Dental services feature in Coalition health policy

The Coalition released its Policy to Support Australia’s Health System, claiming it will tackle chronic diseases, provide faster access to newly approved medicines, invest in Australia’s medical workforce and prepare the health system for the demographic changes ahead.

The policy includes a commitment to honour the arrangements under the National Partnership Agreement for Adult Public Dental Services.

The Coalition pledges that at the expiry of the National Partnership Agreement for Adult Public Dental Services, it “will seek to transition respective adult dental services to be included under Medicare. The implementation of the Child Dental Benefits Schedule will inform the expansion of Medicare dental services more broadly for adult services, including initial eligibility requirements for patients, appropriateness of the caps for treatment and schedule fees”.