4 hrs ago
Australian MP says periods, childbirth and menopause can cost $100,000
Australian MP Ali France said women can face very high healthcare costs over their lives.
She estimated the total cost at between AU$35,000 and AU$100,000.
The expenses can include period products, contraception, childbirth and menopause medicines.
She said period products alone can cost up to AU$19,000.
France also described physical pain and times when health problems were not taken seriously.
Australia’s government has introduced an AU$800 million women’s health package.
The package helps make some medicines and treatments cheaper.
The government says more than 1 million women have benefited.
France gave an example of hormone therapy falling from AU$120 a month to AU$25 every two months.
Ali France said the lifetime financial cost of being a woman in Australia can range from AU$35,000 to AU$100,000.
She cited period products, contraception, childbirth, childbirth-related impacts and menopause treatments as major expenses.
France said period products alone can cost up to AU$19,000 in Australia.
The Australian government’s AU$800 million women’s health package expands subsidised access to contraception, hormonal therapies and endometriosis treatments.
The government says more than 1 million women have accessed cheaper medicines through the package.
- Who
- Australian MP Ali France, the Australian government and Health Minister Mark Butler are central to the report.
- What
- France estimated that women’s periods, reproductive healthcare, childbirth and menopause can cost up to AU$100,000 over a lifetime.
- Where
- The remarks concerned women living in Australia and were made in the Australian Parliament.
- When
- France discussed the issue during Women’s Health Week, held from 7–11 September; the related social-media reel was posted on Monday.
- Why
- France wanted to highlight the physical and financial costs of women’s healthcare and the government’s efforts to reduce those costs.
Key facts
- Estimated lifetime cost
- AU$35,000 to AU$100,000
- Period-product cost
- Up to AU$19,000
- Government health package
- AU$800 million
- Reported beneficiaries
- More than 1 million women
- Example hormone-therapy cost
- Reduced from AU$120 monthly to AU$25 every two months
- Subsidised treatments
- Contraception, hormonal therapies and endometriosis treatments
Quotes
Mark Butler
Australia’s Minister for Health and Ageing
“All Australian women deserve to have their health issues taken seriously and given the priority they deserve…Our government is doing that, delivering women more choice, lower costs and better access to services and treatments,”
theprint.in
“I am appropriately frank and literally disinterested in your drama,”
theprint.in
Sources
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