Ms HALL (9:40 AM) —I would like to endorse the words of the member for Dobell and the support that he has expressed for those organisations on the Central Coast. They do very worthy and worthwhile work.

I would like to refer to correspondence I have had from a constituent who also lives on the Central Coast but has not had such good experiences. She tells me that she had an eye operation and that, if she had not had that operation immediately, her sight would have been badly and irreparably damaged. She had to pay for the surgery herself rather than go onto a waiting list. The cost was difficult to cover for a pensioner. The hospital expenses were $1,400, the doctors’ fees were $1,114 and the refund she received was only $596. The total cost to her as an individual was nearly $2,000, with an account for the anaesthetist still to arrive when I received this correspondence. She has also had to cover the specialist monthly fee of between $60 and $90.

She points out to me that the pharmaceutical allowance for single and married pensioners is $5.80 per fortnight. With each script costing $4.90 and sometimes $7.50, medication is very difficult for pensioners to afford. She says to me: under the Howard government, these essential costs for pensioners have increased. Some pensioners have to go without essential medication because they cannot afford it. I would like to reinforce what this lady says. I have been told time and time again how pensioners vary following the recommendations for taking their prescriptions. They take one tablet every second day or only get one script instead of two scripts—because they cannot afford it. She points out to me that at the age of 69 she is not covered by Medicare for a pap smear, which costs $90, and the same applies to mammograms. I have campaigned within the electorate very strongly to have the age at which people are eligible for mammograms extended because many people are missing out on accessing these very important services.

The majority of doctors on the Central Coast do not bulk-bill. Each visit costs between $50 and $55, my constituent points out, and the Medicare refund goes nowhere near to covering this. Without the added cost of prescription drugs, this is an enormous strain for many people on the Central Coast. A high number of medical items have been removed from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. This is a problem that this constituent and many other constituents within the Shortland electorate have highlighted with me, and I urge the government to rethink this issue.