Australian Dentists Worried About Dental Gap
Australian dentists are worried that thousands of people may struggle to afford dental care when the current Medicare Chronic Disease Scheme is scrapped; dentists have spotted that there will be a gap of more than one year before the new dental scheme, recently announced by Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, is introduced.
The Chronic Disease Scheme costs around $1 billion per year and it is set to be replaced by a more universal dental scheme, which will save the government money in the long-run and provide dental care for a much larger number of people. However, with the new scheme not likely to come into play for at least 12 months, many patients are going to be left in the lurch.
Patients currently covered by the Medicare scheme have been told that coverage for new patients will cease at the end of next week, with existing patients allowed a 12 week period for courses of treatment to be completed before the scheme closes for good on November 30th.
Initial excitement about the new dental scheme, which promises to deliver free or affordable dental care to millions of Australians, seems to have given away to scepticism for many, with opposition politicians questioning how the government will pay for the scheme, which will cost around $4.1 billion, and accusing Julia Gillard’s party of providing people with promises that cannot be funded.
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