Fighting for Better Lupus Care: Advocates Raise Awareness and Push for Change.
Lanesa Downs, a lupus survivor, has influenced the Government to amend the list of covered illnesses under the National Health Fund (NHF) to include lupus. Prior to the change in legislation, lupus patients had to pay upwards of a $100,000 for their daily-dose immunosuppressants. Now as a NHF covered autoimmune disease, lupus patients can benefit from subsidies on certain medications, allowing them to access some at no cost while others are 80 per cent covered by the Government. Downs said there's still quite a few drugs that aren't covered at all because they're probably too expensive for even the Government to subsidise, and there's more that can be done.