The Federal government added dialysis services to the medicare benefits schedule to provide remote- living Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders better access to life saving treatment.
The sector welcomed the addition as a lifeline for the growing health crisis of Indigenous Kidney Disease which has had to rely on private donations and fundraising to provide care due to inadequate government funding.
From November, medicare under the MBS system would cover some of the costs of dialysis delivered by nurses, Indigenous practitioners and Indigenous health workers in remote areas.