Free dental care for all ns under a $12billion a year expansion of Medicare has been proposed to the federal government.
A senate inquiry into the dental care system in has been handed to Health Minister Mark Butler who will be required to respond when Parliament returns for the year.
Currently, patients are required to privately pay for any dentist visits and treatments, with the exception of children under 17 who meet eligibility requirements and some concession card holders.
According to a 2023 report by the Grattan Institute, 32 per cent of patients who needed dental care skipped treatment – amounting to millions of ns – with about half of these citing the cost as the main factor.
That report suggested the National Health Reform Agreement, due to be updated next year, should be the mechanism through which a new scheme is negotiated between the federal and state governments.
Medicare could be expanded to include complete coverage for dental healthcare under a proposal to the federal government
The Parliamentary Budget Office has costed a range of options to expand Medicare to include dental as part of the new Greens-led inquiry, which included two Senators each from Labor and the Coalition.
The four systems identified were costed both with a capped benefit amount for patients and an uncapped rebates version.
The first option would be a universal coverage to all Medicare card holders which would cost $8.3billion for the capped version over five years and $11.6billion for the uncapped.
The second option was means-tested which would provide rebates to those people on income support and pensioners and cost $3billion for the capped and $4billion for the uncapped versions.
A third option offering full coverage for anyone aged over 65 only would cost $1.7billion for the capped and $2billion for the uncapped versions.
And the fourth option which would apply to all Medicare card holders but only cover preventative measures such as check-ups and diagnostic tests would cost $2.7billion for the capped version and $3.8billion for the uncapped.
ns currently need to pay for any dentist visits or treatment our of their own pockets
As a comparison, Medicare had a $31billion government budget for the last financial year and the National Disability Insurance Scheme had a $37billion cost.
Dental treatments were initially intended to be covered when Medicare was first introduced in the 1970s but were jettisoned due to budget constraints.
Health directory Cleanbill estimated last year ns were paying on average $230 for a standard dentist visit.