The Greens will announce on Wednesday a $7.5bn a year policy to include dental into Medicare, which the party says will be a key priority if it holds the balance of power.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Greens leader Adam Bandt will announce that the policy could be funded by billionaires and large corporations paying their “fair share of tax”.
He will also say the party is “on track” to hold balance of power in the House of Representatives, and noted that the party had already successfully negotiated dental services for children in a deal during the formation of Julia Gillard’s minority government in 2010.
“Last time the Greens were in the balance of power we got dental into Medicare for kids, and now we’ll finish the job by getting dental into Medicare for everyone,” Bandt will say.
“In balance of power, the Greens will kick the Liberals out and take climate action by stopping new coal and gas mines, and we’ll tackle the cost of living by getting dental and mental health into Medicare, fixing the housing affordability crisis and wiping student debt.”
Bandt will claim the policy, which parliamentary budget office costings show would cost about $7.5bn a year, could be funded by its proposed 6% extra tax on billionaires and a corporate “super profits tax”.
“The money is there to pay for these plans if we have the guts to take on the billionaires and big corporations,” Bandt says.
“Labor agrees with Liberals that workers should get a one-off payment of $420 but billionaires should get a tax cut of $9,000 a year, every year, for ever, but the Greens want something different.”
“The Greens will make Clive Palmer pay more tax so you can fix your teeth.”
Under the policy, everyone entitled to Medicare would be able to access Medicare-funded dental care and orthodontic treatment as well as oral surgeries, periodontics and prosthodontics.
The proposal would also expand the child dental benefits scheme (CDBS) to provide eligible recipients with unlimited routine and therapeutic dental care, including orthodontics, and allow all Medicare holders to be bulk-billed.
PBO costings, released by the party, show the $7bn annual cost estimate is based on the assumption that about 80% of dental care services would be routine dental care, which consists of low-to-medium cost dental care services, and that there would be sufficient qualified dentists and dental care workers for the significantly increased demand for services.
The PBO document states that it does not examine whether the supply of qualified dentists and health care workers is sufficient for the forecast increased demand of dental care services, nor the impact to private health care premiums, insurance rebates and the viability of private providers, who would be required to bulk bill.
The annual cost is about $7.5bn a year over the forward estimates, growing to about $10bn a year over the medium term, with a 10-year cost of $77bn.
