‘Denticare’ must not delay election promises for elderly

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) urged the Federal Government not to further delay implementation of the Commonwealth Dental Health Program in the light of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s (NHHRC’s) proposal to include dental services in a Medicare-type scheme.

“AHHA welcomes the recognition by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission of the need for increased Commonwealth involvement in the provision of public dental services.

However, we are concerned that the debate about the implementation of the Commission’s proposed ‘Denticare’ scheme may delay implementation of the Commonwealth Dental Health Program (CDHP),” said Ms Prue Power, the executive director of AHHA.

“Over 100,000 pensioners and low income earners have missed out on promised dental services due to the Senate stalemate over the implementation of the proposed Commonwealth Dental Health Program (CDHP).

“The CDHP is a Government election commitment and targets pensioners and low income earners who often struggle to afford private dental services.

“However, the scheme has not been implemented due to the lack of support in the Senate from the Coalition, minor parties and independents, for the closure of the previous government’s Medicare-based dental program.

“The Government planned to fund the CDHP via diverting resources from the existing program.

“The resulting stalemate in the Senate has left thousands of Australians without access to promised dental services.

“AHHA has proposed a solution to this Senate stalemate which is very similar, in terms of the items of care it covers, to the DentiCare scheme proposed by the National Health and Hospitalls Reform Commission.

“In fact, the AHHA proposal to reduce the scope of the Medicare Chronic Disease Dental Program, thereby freeing sufficient funds to implement the CDHP for low income earners, can be seen as the first stage of the implementation of DentiCare.

“Both the AHHA and the NHHRC proposals exclude more complex dental care such as crowns, bridges, implants and orthodontics.

“We therefore urge the Government and the Opposition Senators to support the alignment of the scope of the Chronic Disease Dental Program with the proposal for DentiCare, so that the Commonwealth Dental Health Program can be implemented without further delay,” Ms Power said.