Coalition Reacts To Toothsome Alp Offer

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday September 19, 2007

Mark Metherell

A PLEDGE by the Labor leader to finance a million extra dental services has hit a nerve with government MPs, spurring speculation about a Coalition rethink on the sensitive dental issue.

Hours after Kevin Rudd announced his $290 million, three-year plan to treat the 650,000 patients on dental waiting lists, he faced a barrage of government interjections when he sought to raise the issue in Parliament.

Coalition sources have raised the prospect of the Government retaliating with another upgrade of its own scheme, which restricts Medicare dental benefits to those with chronic and complex conditions.

The Government still has to pass legislation for a revised plan, due to operate from November 1, which would provide Medicare benefits to 200,000 dental patients over four years, at a cost of $384 million.

Labor has discarded the Medicare approach for its scheme to provide basic treatment for holders of the health card and low-income families. Care would be provided largely by state government public dental clinics, with some work contracted out to private dentists.

While the Government's scheme is expected to leave many patients with out-of-pocket costs running to hundreds of dollars, Labor says patients under its system should face co-payments of a maximum of $20 to $30.

Mr Rudd said tooth decay was Australia's most prevalent public health problem. The Government had scrapped the Commonwealth Dental Health Program in 1996, withdrawing $1.1 billion from public dental services since then, he said.

The Health Minister, Tony Abbott, said much of Labor's funding would be spent on state public servants and would only cover consultations.

Labor's health spokeswoman, Nicola Roxon, said the shortage of dentists would be dealt with in a later announcement.

Public dental services offered the opportunity to use existing capacity. "It will then keep pressure and competition there for private dentists," she said.

Dr John Matthews, the president of the Australian Dental Association, said he supported "any scheme that works with the states to reduce long public dental waiting lists".

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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