The Federal Government’s cuts to Medicare rebates for cataracts and the abolition of the rebate for pain-relieving arthritic injections were put in place on Sunday.

Cataract patients will now have to find an extra $300 to account for the 50 per cent rebate cut.

Those who require pain relief injections for arthritis will now have to pay $20 every time they need to relieve inflamed joints, which some people require regularly.

Jan Hopkins from the Older Women’s Network said elderly people were suffering because of unwillingness to compromise.

“It upsets me that older people are caught in the middle of a fight between two extremely powerful bodies,” she said.

“There is the government and the professional association of ophthalmologists, who are threatening to withdraw their services from the public health system altogether.

“Neither side is willing to negotiate and the older people miss out.”

Despite pressure from the government to lower fees, most eye specialists have refused to give in.

“You see the Fred Hollows ads, where you can restore sight in a third world country for $25,” she said.

“Here I think it costs something like $2000.

“It’s a complicated situation and I can see both arguments but if you’re going blind, you don’t want to be the person sacrificing your sight.”

A couple of months ago, Di Hoffman discovered she had cataracts and is on a waiting list to be operated on in July next year.

The 79-year-old is concerned about how the rebate cuts will affect pensioners, who are already struggling financially.

“We only have the pension and already have to spend all that money to live, we haven’t got another income so I can only imagine the situation is going to deteriorate further,” she said.

“We just have to get our priorities right, we either don’t see properly and go blind or get the operation done.”

Ms Hoffman said what doctors charged for the operation was their discretion and thinks they should be more empathetic with the elderly.

“We can’t expect them to do it for nothing,” she said.

“Obviously there is a lot of learning required and the cost of equipment, but it’s only a 15-20 minute operation.

“And I know some doctors aren’t charging the full amount, but it has been left up to them.”