Medical Insurance !

Many Australian women are being denied a safe termination of their pregnancy because their doctor declines to write a script for the drug RU486.   It seems that the main provider of medical insurance in this country requires the same level of cover if RU486 is prescribed as applies to providers of surgical abortion procedures.   In most cases, this elevates the annual insurance premium by a further $ 5,000.

Strangely, this impost does not apply to the " Morning After "pill.   The difference is that this needs to be taken within a short time frame of having unprotected sex, while RU486 will deliver a miscarriage up to forty-nine days after conception occurs.

It seems that the insurers are leery about after effects and the possibility of ongoing litigation.  This has not been an eventuality, but the insurers have decided to err on the safe side and apply this restriction.  There is a vast difference in the risks involved between merely popping a pill - and undergoing anaesthesia and invasive surgery.

RU486 was recently added to the PBS and now costs just $12.   This insurance requirement is more easily overcome in a big city because of the vast number of medical services that will allow a woman a larger choice of providers, but the situation is very different in country areas.

Many rural towns are served by a single general practicioner  who may be called upon for RU486 scripts only rarely.   The cost of paying that insurance premium is not economical and this causes his or her patient to undergo the expense and trauma of travelling to a far distant destination to get relief that should be available locally.

The fact that RU486 involves the controversial subject of abortion clouds the issue.   Misuse of any drug can create medical problems but to single out a single item on the PBS schedule suggests that political or religious issues may be involved in this insurance requirement.

The fact that it is delivering different outcomes to Australians based on their postcodes is unacceptable - and needs urgent resolution !