Most Medical Practitioners understand that Medicare is NOT about promoting wellness or even illness prevention. Medicare’s raison d’etre is authorise and fund the investigation of medical/surgical/palliative treatment of disease as it arises - at minimal expense and shortest hospital stay.
Promoting wellness is of itself illness prevention; far more idealistic - and economically astute than waiting for sickness to develop and then attempting to mend it.
I doubt that the ‘everyday’ patient who consults his or her family Doctor are aware just how much pressure Medicare exerts on Practitioners to minimise investigative testing and time spent with their patients. Many Doctors feel a sense of professional frustration, but stay quiet so not to attract the intimidating attention of this bureaucratic ‘Big Brother’.
A perfect case in point to the ‘illness prevention’ argument is preliminary testing for Iodine deficiency. The test is a very simple, non-invasive urine ’spot-screen’. It is NOT covered by Medicare, and retails to the patient as an ‘out of pocket expense’ of $20.
Because Iodine is not covered under Medicare, Doctors rarely test for it unless requested. Even then it seems some have been conditioned to hesitate as “Medicare doesn’t like it”.
Next to iron - Iodine is considered the most important (trace) nutrient to body metabolic function.
It has been known for some time that the Australian general population is thought to suffer a mild Iodine deficiency. Some individuals don’t; others show severe deficiency.
Low Iodine results in an under-functioning thyroid - perhaps that’s why hypothyroidism is so endemic. There is also a studied correlation between Iodine deficiency and reduced IQ in children, and breast disease in women.
At the time of writing – Australian Professor Creswell Eastman from the Council of Control (Iodine Deficiency Disorders) – is urging food manufacturers to again add Iodine to their products. His statement arises from a recent national study which found almost half of all children of primary school age show Iodine deficiency.
What’s the more desirable outcome in human AND economic terms - declining health levels in mid-life because of a simple nutrient deficiency? People suffering chronic illness or possibly avoidable breast disease for the reason that no-one thought to test their Iodine sufficiency? I believe the answer is self-evident.
Scandalously - Iodine is not the only test essential to good health that is disallowed or restricted by Medicare.