Why isn’t your dentist included in this scheme

Good dental care is absolutely essential for your overall health, but it isn’t included in the Medicare scheme. This may be why a lot of people neglect their oral health, because good dental care can be expensive. The controversy about including dental in the Medicare scheme is a controversy that goes back years, and there seems to be no end in sight for the debate. If you’re curious about why Medicare doesn’t cover trips to your dentist in Sydney, here’s what you need to know.

The History of Medicare

Medicare is Australia’s publicly funded universal health care system and it’s the primary funder of health care in Australia. Every time they go to a doctor, nurse practitioner or allied health professional, Australian residents are entitled to a rebate for their treatment. This plan was first introduced in 1975 by the Whitlam Government in a slightly different form and was reintroduced in 1984 in the current form.

Medicare is the biggest draw on the Commonwealth health budget, eating up around 43 percent of the total budget. This cost of this program was estimated to read 23.6 billion in 2016/2017. These costs are mostly covered by an income tax surcharge known as the Medicare levy, which is a certain percent of a person’s taxable income. People who are in a low-income bracket don’t have to pay this surcharge.

Australians can also buy private insurance, which grants them a rebate on more services, gives them exemptions from the Medicare levy, and lets them access a higher level of health care.

The Debate About Medicare

Medicare is a contentious issue, with lots of debates about what it does, doesn’t, and should include. Dentistry is the source of some of these debates because it isn’t included. This usually affects people of low-income levels, resulting in poor oral health and lack of access to even basic dental care let alone more complex procedures. However, the argument that dentistry should be included in Medicare isn’t supported by the facts. Here are some of the arguments:

Increased access to dental care won’t necessarily increase oral health because lifestyle and dietary factors are important too.
There are other barriers to universal dental care such as a mismatch between the distribution of oral health professionals and the needs of rural communities.
Experts say that Medicare as it is will crumble under the increasing load of Australia’s aging population in the near future, and it just can’t afford to add dentistry to the scheme.
If dentistry is added, every person in Australia will need to pay at least 800 dollars extra tax to cover it per year, which means 3,500 dollars extra tax for the average family.
At best, adding dentistry to the Medicare scheme would double or triple the current Medicare levy.

What Dentists Think

The debate about the inclusion of dentistry in Medicare is ongoing and there are no simple solutions. Dentists too are divided on the debate. They usually admit that something needs to change because of the growing problems with oral health in Australia, but also realise that funding it through Medicare is unsupportable. There is also a concern that any amendment to the Medicare scheme would only result in two classes of dental care: basic care for people with low income and luxury care for the wealthy.

The Australian Dental Association has suggested a scheme called DentalAccess. This would be separate to Medicare and it would target the 30 percent of people who don’t have good access to proper dental care. Under this scheme, the main causes of dental problems would be taxed to pay for this service. This would include the tobacco, liquor and sugar industries.

Your friendly dentist in Sydney also highlights the importance of lifestyle factors in determining your oral health. Access to dental treatments aren’t enough, people must be wiling to make the changes in their life that support good dental health. This includes brushing regularly and avoiding alcohol, sugar and tobacco.