Dentists lobby for smaller govt program
Dentists are lobbing the Federal Government to dump plans from its top health reform body for a $3.7 billion universal dental scheme, arguing instead for a smaller program focused only on the poor.
The Australian newspaper says the Australian Dental Association (ADA) is pushing for a targeted scheme modelled on the Commonwealth Dental Program dumped by the Howard government in 1996.
The idea, presented to Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, by the ADA, involves dumping the Denticare Australia scheme put up by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission in June.
That involved the creation of a universal dental scheme funded by a 0.75 percentage point increase in the Medicare levy, which would entitle patients to receive dental cover either totally free through the public system or through one of a series of private plans.
The ADA has opposed Denticare from the start but this is the first time it has articulated its vision for an alternative “Dental Assistance Program” in any detail.
The association did not cost its scheme, but suggested it could be funded through a new tax on sugar and sugary sweets and soft drinks.
