Coalition Senators’ Additional Comments
The Gillard Labor Government has chosen to link the
introduction of its new dental benefits scheme to the closing of the Medicare
Chronic Disease Dental Scheme (CDDS). The CDDS, introduced in late 2007, was
a Howard Government initiative that provided up to $4250 in Medicare benefits
for dental services for individuals with chronic conditions and complex dental
care needs.
As outlined in the Majority Report, the CDDS was closed by
Labor to new patients from 8 September 2012, and any services for existing CDDS
patients must now be completed by 30 November 2012 in order to qualify for
benefits under the CDDS.
The CDDS assisted over one million Australians suffering
from poor oral health due to a range of chronic illnesses including but not
limited to; diabetes, coronary disease and cancer. Over 80 per cent of
patients accessing the scheme were health care card holders who would not
otherwise have been able to fund the dental treatment they accessed under the
scheme.
Coalition Senators are concerned that the closure of the
CDDS will leave these patients unable to access the dental care required to
assist them with the management of complex chronic illnesses.
Through the Dental Benefits Amendment Bill 2012, the Labor
Government is seeking to redirect public dental funding to an entirely
different demographic with the establishment of the framework of the Child
Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS).
Under the proposed CDBS, eligible children between the age
of two and 18 years will be able to access basic dental health care, capped at
an entitlement of $1000 per child over two years. Coalition Senators are
concerned that this entitlement is significantly less than the entitlement for
dental care under the CDDS and is also limited to a basic service only. It is also
concerning to Coalition Senators that the CDBS does not address adult chronic
disease needs and also represents reduced support for children suffering
chronic disease.
Coalition Senators share the concerns raised by some
stakeholders in relation to the age limit of the CDBS and agree with the points
raised in the submission from the Association for the Promotion of Oral Health:
Of particular concern in dentistry is that young adults,
becoming independent of their parents and commencing adult independent life,
have essentially equivalent dental needs to older teenagers. One aspect of the
teenage population, is an increase in the rate at which decay develops, so that
sudden withdrawal of dental services from young people once they reach the age
of 18, will result in a corresponding deterioration in dental health in young
adults
There seems no clear reason why the dental care of any
individual should be determined on the basis of age...[1]
At the inquiry, stakeholders also raised concerns in
relation to the lack of detail for this policy, with no details in relation to
the schedule for treatment under Medicare available at this time. Coalition
Senators share these concerns. That such a schedule has not been included in
this bill demonstrates that yet again this Labor Government is trying to
implement policy on the run, with the schedule for treatment under Medicare to
be introduced through further amendments to this bill. Senators will again be
asked to vote on a bill, without full knowledge of how it will, in fact, be
implemented.
The CDDS was a successful Howard Government initiative that
assisted over one million Australians suffering from chronic disease to achieve
better oral healthcare outcomes. The Gillard Labor Government’s decision to
close a functional scheme, establish a new scheme to service a completely
different demographic of patient and consequently shutting down access to
publicly funded dental care for chronic disease sufferers demonstrates that the
Dental Benefits Amendment Bill 2012 is more about political point scoring than
providing publicly funded dental care to those Australians who need it the
most.
Recommendations
1. That support for children should continue
through the CDDS until the CDBS is operational.
2. That the Government considers extending
financial assistance above the cap of $1000 for children requiring more complex
dental treatment as a result of chronic disease.
Senator Dean Smith
Western Australia
Senator David Bushby
Tasmania
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