For or against denticare (and associated tax rises)? (1 Viewer)

[banco55]

Raising the medicare levy to 2.25 % is a big jump. Our generation is going to be taxed to buggery pay for the baby boomers and this is just going to make things worse:




Mr Rudd acknowledged there would be costs to taxpayers if the government embraced all of the commission's recommendations, including its "Denticare" scheme.

All Australians would be offered free basic dental care in return for an increase in the Medicare levy from 1.5 per cent to 2.25 per cent under Denticare.

At present, public dental services are mostly limited to low income earners but are in such demand patients can wait over a year for treatment.

Cost pain predicted as health heads for overhaul | The Australian

 

[Serius]

nah stuff it, just dump more fluoride in the water, its a lot cheaper. Dont we allready have the option of free dental anyway? i thought you could go to a hospital or some clinics and get free treatment... Most people can afford to pay it, and even the most severe dental problems are very rarely life threatening [and even then, severe dental problems means you get free treatment at hospital] so most of my moral arguments for socialised medicine dont work for dental.

 

[katie tully]

There is a 1300 number you can call, if you're an age pensioner/under 18/on the dole with a healthcare card/povo and working with a healthcare card

And you get approval and get work done by a dentist, and medicare covers the charge up to a certain amount (if it goes over you owe the rest)

But whatever, I don't know. It's relatively expensive to see a dentist, but not if you go once a year for a check and nip things in the bud. It's when you leave it for years and end up with 4763875 holes that need filling, and suddenly you're up for $500 worth of fillings. People just need to take a bit of responsibility for themselves in terms of dental, imo.

Never stopped me getting abused when I was a dental nurse though. "OMG BUT IM IN PAIN AND IM GUNA FUCKIN KILL U IF U DONT SEE ME FOR FREE"

 

[lala2]

I think it's a good idea. People might actually be more willing to see the dentist and hence take care of their teeth better. It also makes it cheaper for everyone. I certainly don't want to be paying close to $2k just to take out my 3 wisdom teeth! I mean, I'm already paying taxes so why shouldn't I get some of it back in terms of services such as dental care? And it's not like I'm missing the money taken out of tax--it's gone before I even see it.

 

[katie tully]

I think it's a good idea. People might actually be more willing to see the dentist and hence take care of their teeth better. It also makes it cheaper for everyone. I certainly don't want to be paying close to $2k just to take out my 3 wisdom teeth! I mean, I'm already paying taxes so why shouldn't I get some of it back in terms of services such as dental care? And it's not like I'm missing the money taken out of tax--it's gone before I even see it.

What? No they wont.

Just like we have subsidized health care and people still don't give a shit about their health until it's too late.

 

[Riet]

I say yes its worth it because having a healthy mouth has been shown to improve overall health = saving in the long run.

That said my dentist is a family friend and he only charges what our private cover will give back, making it in essence free. For this reason I go to the dentist every 6 months, and have only had 1 filling, in one of my wisdom teeth, a result of it never closing completely

 

[banco55]

I think it's a good idea. People might actually be more willing to see the dentist and hence take care of their teeth better. It also makes it cheaper for everyone. I certainly don't want to be paying close to $2k just to take out my 3 wisdom teeth! I mean, I'm already paying taxes so why shouldn't I get some of it back in terms of services such as dental care? And it's not like I'm missing the money taken out of tax--it's gone before I even see it.

I'm glad you are so sanguine about paying more taxes. According to my back of the envelope calculation someone who is single earning $80 grand per year would be up for an extra $600 a year in tax.

 

[Riet]

I'm glad you are so sanguine about paying more taxes. According to my back of the envelope calculation someone who is single earning $80 grand per year would be up for an extra $600 a year in tax.

If it made dental work free that's totally worth it.

 

[jb_nc]

Ima communist

 

[JonathanM]

I say yes its worth it because having a healthy mouth has been shown to improve overall health = saving in the long run.

I thought that it was the longer people live, the more they cost the system?

 

[jb_nc]

Raising the medicare levy to 2.25 % is a big jump. Our generation is going to be taxed to buggery pay for the baby boomers and this is just going to make things worse:




Mr Rudd acknowledged there would be costs to taxpayers if the government embraced all of the commission's recommendations, including its "Denticare" scheme.

All Australians would be offered free basic dental care in return for an increase in the Medicare levy from 1.5 per cent to 2.25 per cent under Denticare.

At present, public dental services are mostly limited to low income earners but are in such demand patients can wait over a year for treatment.

Cost pain predicted as health heads for overhaul | The Australian

floss your teeth with your bootstraps, god damn

 

[Riet]

I thought that it was the longer people live, the more they cost the system?

well maybe their teeth might slowly start to cost more but oral hygene prevents other diseases.

 

[aussie-boy]

Completely healthy people in Australia often have 3rd world standard teeth if they arent well off enough to afford 2 $150+ dentist visits for each member of their family every year.

Cut spending on end of life care and be more proactive about getting people to eat healthy and exercise if the Gov wants to reduce the levy

 

[banco55]

I'll be interested to see the dentists reaction. At least in the UK (where they have something similar to denticare) if you want free service you better be prepared to wait because most dentists won't take non-private patients.

 

[lala2]

I'm glad you are so sanguine about paying more taxes. According to my back of the envelope calculation someone who is single earning $80 grand per year would be up for an extra $600 a year in tax.

I'm not denying the tax threshold system is ridiculous--jumping from 15% to 30% to 40%. But as you pointed out, it only costs an extra $600 in tax if they're earning $80k. Hopefully someone earning that amount wouldn't miss it too much. If they did, they either need to cut somewhere, or budget better. All I'm saying is, you learn to live with the lower amount of disposable income. That's why they recommend you allocate a portion of your salary directly into a savings account, if you're serious about saving. It's as if the money was never there.

 

[JonathanM]

well maybe their teeth might slowly start to cost more but oral hygene prevents other diseases.

I was referring more to the whole aged care system than just the dental part of it. Like, as you grow older, you're more likely to get sick (regardless of your oral health aiding this, the statistic would be higher), you will also probably be on a pension and might be reliant on other public services like aged care facilities etc.

 

[BBJames]

Im against it.

Anything that increases taxes under the notion for the greater good of health care is 100% failure.

 

[Uncle]

moar tax rise does not mask poor management k?

 

[Optimus Prime]

I was referring more to the whole aged care system than just the dental part of it. Like, as you grow older, you're more likely to get sick (regardless of your oral health aiding this, the statistic would be higher), you will also probably be on a pension and might be reliant on other public services like aged care facilities etc.

Yes but generally it means you've been paying taxes for 50 years or so too.

 

[volition]

Against taxes, and so therefore against denticare. Government provided health care (govt provided anything, really) sucks because it doesn't make proper use of the price mechanism to allocate resources.