Federal Budget - reactions to dental measures
The Federal Budget’s $378 million dental health scheme received mixed reaction.
The Australian Dental Association welcomed the measures, especially the recognition by the Federal Government to assume a greater role in dental care delivery to Australians. But the Association said that too many Australians with dental problems have been ignored and are the losers as the measures don't go far enough.
ADA President Dr John Matthews said: “Australia has a maldistribution of dentists in rural and remote sections of the country and the Charles Sturt University proposal (to build a dental school), if successful, will go some considerable way to redress this maldistribution.” However nothing has been done to remedy the shortfall in the numbers of dentists in the public sector.
Carol Nader, of The Age wrote: “In Victoria, more than 140,000 people are on waiting lists for dental treatment. A bipartisan committee of federal MPs last year recommended that Canberra help the states pay for public dental services. While the federal and state governments play the blame game, in parts of Victoria patients wait years for dental treatment. In Moe, the wait is more than five years.
“The Federal Government has committed $378 million to help people see a private dentist — but only if they have a chronic health condition that is affected by their dental problems. The Government will allow patients to get up to $2125 a year in Medicare rebates for dental treatment, up from the current $77.95 for three dental sessions. The extra money is essentially an admission by the Government that the current scheme has failed. But while it says the new scheme will help treat 200,000 people over four years, it still won't help hundreds of thousands of people on dental waiting lists who do not have chronic health conditions.”
The President of the Australian Council of Social Services, Lin Hatfield Dodds, said: “ … while the Government has put some money into dental care and that’s good move, but none of that money is going to make a difference to the 650,000 Australians who are still on dental waiting lists tonight for an average of over two years”.
The Opposition’s health spokeswoman, Nicola Roxon, promised that a Labor Government would reintroduce a Commonwealth dental program. She said that the package was an admission that the dental care of Australian’s was the government’s responsibility but it was insufficient.
The Australian Dental Association welcomed the measures, especially the recognition by the Federal Government to assume a greater role in dental care delivery to Australians. But the Association said that too many Australians with dental problems have been ignored and are the losers as the measures don't go far enough.
ADA President Dr John Matthews said: “Australia has a maldistribution of dentists in rural and remote sections of the country and the Charles Sturt University proposal (to build a dental school), if successful, will go some considerable way to redress this maldistribution.” However nothing has been done to remedy the shortfall in the numbers of dentists in the public sector.
Carol Nader, of The Age wrote: “In Victoria, more than 140,000 people are on waiting lists for dental treatment. A bipartisan committee of federal MPs last year recommended that Canberra help the states pay for public dental services. While the federal and state governments play the blame game, in parts of Victoria patients wait years for dental treatment. In Moe, the wait is more than five years.
“The Federal Government has committed $378 million to help people see a private dentist — but only if they have a chronic health condition that is affected by their dental problems. The Government will allow patients to get up to $2125 a year in Medicare rebates for dental treatment, up from the current $77.95 for three dental sessions. The extra money is essentially an admission by the Government that the current scheme has failed. But while it says the new scheme will help treat 200,000 people over four years, it still won't help hundreds of thousands of people on dental waiting lists who do not have chronic health conditions.”
The President of the Australian Council of Social Services, Lin Hatfield Dodds, said: “ … while the Government has put some money into dental care and that’s good move, but none of that money is going to make a difference to the 650,000 Australians who are still on dental waiting lists tonight for an average of over two years”.
The Opposition’s health spokeswoman, Nicola Roxon, promised that a Labor Government would reintroduce a Commonwealth dental program. She said that the package was an admission that the dental care of Australian’s was the government’s responsibility but it was insufficient.
posted by Garry Pearson at 9:11 am
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