A growing number of people seeking asylum in Australia are missing out on lifesaving preventative health care due to being ineligible for Medicare, a group of Sydney doctors and nurses say. Source: ABC News.
Many refugees can access free health care while waiting for permanent residency — a process which can take years — but some are deemed ineligible due to the nature of their visa.
For example, people who have a temporary protection visa can work and access Medicare for up to three years while they wait for permanent residency, while someone granted a bridging visa can face work and health care restrictions.
Others may initially be eligible for Medicare but later lose access while waiting for visa determination.
Asylum Seekers Centre health clinic manager and nurse Emily Cumming said patients often presented to the Newtown clinic with conditions which could have been managed with early intervention.
It is estimated one in three refugees who come through the centre do not have Medicare.
Sydney GP Mark Harris has volunteered at the Asylum Seekers Centre for more than 25 years and says access to health care remains “depressingly unchanged”.
He said patients with mental health concerns and conditions like diabetes had particularly poor long-term health outcomes if symptoms went untreated.
Professor Harris and Ms Cumming are among more than 130 medical professionals who have written to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to raise concerns about patients being denied treatment due to their Medicare status.
The Department of Home Affairs was contacted for comment.
FULL STORY
Sydney healthcare workers push for refugee Medicare access amid growing health concerns (By Phoebe Pin, ABC News)
