Federal budget preview - dental care for chronically ill

In a front page story in The Age today (Fifth-term fight ensures federal budget has bite) Michelle Grattan predicts that tomorrow's Federal Budget "will pour about $375 million over four years into fixing the teeth of those with chronic illnesses. This will help 200,000 people and take some pressure off state waiting lists for acute dental care".

This outcome is a tribute to the National Oral Health Alliance campaign in which ACOSS and the ADA led a very broad coalition of organisations from the welfare, community and dental professional sectors to obtain increased resources to address waiting lists of up to five years for access to public dental care.

Ms Grattan's story also notes that:

"The dental money is a response to strong Coalition backbench pressure to do something on dental health and Labor's promise of a dental scheme.
At present, people whose chronic illness includes dental problems can only get three visits a year covered by Medicare. This is often inadequate to give them proper care.
However, the states will still be left with a big dental problem because the change will not cover people who have trouble with their teeth but not a chronic illness."

More detailed analysis and response awaits the formal presentation of the budget tomorrow.