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Medicare can cover kidney dialysis in Australia. However, the current Medicare benefit for home dialysis is only $129.70 (up to a maximum of 12 claims per year).
Luckily, private health insurance can help. All gold level policies must cover dialysis for chronic kidney failure, but some silver tiered policies will cover you too — we've listed them below.
Policies start at $160 and all have a 12 month waiting period, so consider buying now if you have chronic kidney failure.
Below you can find sample quotes from Finder partner funds. All policies include treatments for chronic kidney failure.
When you get your quotes on the next page, just click refine search and then choose kidney dialysis under hospital cover.
There are several ways for you to potentially receive benefits for chronic kidney disease and dialysis, both through the public and private health systems.
Below you can see the various types of dialysis treatment and surgical procedures covered by Medicare.:
You can use the table below as a quick reference for seeing which levels of health insurance fully and partially cover, or exclude, kidney related treatments:
Kidney treatment | Top hospital | Medium hospital | Basic hospital |
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Dialysis for chronic renal failure:
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Surgical procedures:
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Early access to preserved superannuation is available in the event of financial hardship. Superannuation savings can help pay for the cost of chronic kidney disease treatment if:
If your superannuation fund includes benefit payments for total and permanent disablement, you can claim these if your chronic kidney disease prevents you from returning to your regular job. You may also be able to claim a disability benefit lump sum if your chronic kidney disease reaches stages four or five and you have to stop work.
Additional sources of financial support may be available to you if you are undertaking home dialysis treatment. These include:
Chronic kidney disease has five stages. Stages one to three can be managed with medication, while stage five is the most severe and requires a kidney transplant or ongoing dialysis treatment.
Disease progression | Physiological changes | Physical symptoms |
---|---|---|
Stage 1 |
| No symptoms |
Stage 2 |
| Usually no symptoms |
Stage 3 |
| In some cases no symptoms |
Stage 4 |
| Abnormal function of organ systems |
Stage 5 |
| Abnormal function of organ systems, fatigue, swelling, change of skin colour |
*GFR: Glomerular Filtration Rate is an indicator used to measure kidney function.
Chronic kidney disease treatments vary based on the severity of the condition. However, patients suffering end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) will require kidney replacement therapy (KRT). Haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis are two types of KRT treatments:
Chronic kidney disease can often go undetected in the early stages due to lack of or few symptoms. Some symptoms are indicative of kidney failure, while other symptoms such as high blood pressure can be confused with other conditions. Symptoms can include:
The number of Australians suffering from chronic kidney disease is unfortunately on the rise. There are more than three times the number of cases today than there was in the early 90’s. The Australian Institution for Health and Welfare provides some concerning statistics surrounding the rates of chronic kidney disease:
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*Benefit only applies if you are treated as a private patient in a public hospital. If you attend a private hospital you will incur significant out-of-pocket expenses for your treatment.
**Restricted funds only provide cover to members of specific industries, groups and organisations. In some cases family members may also be eligible to join.
Data last correct as of 21 Septemeber, 2019.
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