Free dental care could be coming for millions of Australians – as Labor MPs push for bold new Medicare overhaul
Millions of Australians could soon have access to free dental care as pressure mounts on the Albanian government to overhaul Medicare.
Polls suggest Labor could lose votes at the upcoming federal election, which could put them in a minority government and give the party more power with limited seats.
The last time this happened was in 2010, when the Greens pushed to include children’s dental care under Medicare, allowing more than three million children to receive free care.
GreenLeft leader Adam Bandt wants to extend this to all Australians. The plan is estimated to cost around $45.6 billion.
“Anyone who has ever had a toothache knows that dental care is not a choice,” he said last month.
“It is critical that we expand Medicare so that everything is covered for everyone.”
Now more and more Labour MPs are calling for this issue to be put on the government’s agenda in the next parliamentary term.
Tasmania Labor Senator Helen Polley said the party “had to” address the issue of oral health.
“If I could add dental insurance to Medicare tomorrow, I would,” she told The Australian.
‘It is high on my agenda to pick this up next semester and discuss it with my colleagues.’
Ms Polley said dental care needed the same support and funding that mental health care has received over the past decade.
Free dental care could soon be available to millions of Australians, following a bid by the Albanian government to create a new Medicare scheme (stock image)
This comes as more and more Labour MPs are calling for the issue to be put on the government’s agenda in the next parliamentary term (stock image)
A spokesman for Health Minister Mark Butler said the government is considering including dental policy measures in the National Oral Health Plan for 2025-2034.
The Labor Party has invested $220 million in its ‘dental reform agenda’, which includes an inquiry into the cost of public sector dental care for adults.
Macarthur MP and paediatrician Mike Freelander said there was an “economic divide in Australia between those who have access to dental care and those who don’t”.
“I think it is important that we include dental care in the publicly accessible health system, but the Greens’ proposal to cover all dental care is currently unaffordable,” said Dr Freelander.
Poor oral health can have a major impact on Australians. One in five adults avoid certain foods because of dental problems and a third feel uncomfortable with their appearance because of their teeth, the National Oral Health Plan shows.
According to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, almost four in 10 people over the age of 15 avoided or postponed a visit to the dentist between 2017 and 2018 because of the cost.