Universal dental scheme an aspiration, not a commitment - Abbott
Federal Opposition Leader Mr Tony Abbott today told the National Press Club that Medicare funded dentistry is an aspiration – not a commitment.
He said that a universal dental program would cost more than $4 billion.
“It’s the kind of initiative that can’t responsibly be implemented until the budget returns to strong surplus but it’s the kind of social dividend that should motivate the economic changes that Australia needs,” Mr Abbott said.
He said: “One of my final acts as health minister was to establish the Medicare dental scheme to give people on chronic disease care plans access to up to $4000 worth of dental treatment every two years: not check-ups but treatment. I always envisaged that this would be the precursor to putting dental services more generally on Medicare. The advantage of Medicare funding is that it supports treatment by private health professionals who don’t have to bulk-bill so there are still price signals to discourage excessive use. The Medicare system respects the crucial difference between helping to fund services that are privately provided and government directly delivering them. The big problem with Medicare, as it stands, is that it supports treatment for every part of the body except the mouth. People sometimes spend years on Medicare-funded antibiotics because they can’t get Medicare-funded dentistry. One-in-three Australians say that they’ve avoided dental treatment because they can’t afford it”.
Greens' spokesperson for dental health, Senator Richard Di Natale, welcomed Mr Abbott's dental plan, but said that people want a commitment, not just aspirations.
He said that a universal dental program would cost more than $4 billion.
“It’s the kind of initiative that can’t responsibly be implemented until the budget returns to strong surplus but it’s the kind of social dividend that should motivate the economic changes that Australia needs,” Mr Abbott said.
He said: “One of my final acts as health minister was to establish the Medicare dental scheme to give people on chronic disease care plans access to up to $4000 worth of dental treatment every two years: not check-ups but treatment. I always envisaged that this would be the precursor to putting dental services more generally on Medicare. The advantage of Medicare funding is that it supports treatment by private health professionals who don’t have to bulk-bill so there are still price signals to discourage excessive use. The Medicare system respects the crucial difference between helping to fund services that are privately provided and government directly delivering them. The big problem with Medicare, as it stands, is that it supports treatment for every part of the body except the mouth. People sometimes spend years on Medicare-funded antibiotics because they can’t get Medicare-funded dentistry. One-in-three Australians say that they’ve avoided dental treatment because they can’t afford it”.
Greens' spokesperson for dental health, Senator Richard Di Natale, welcomed Mr Abbott's dental plan, but said that people want a commitment, not just aspirations.
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