Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I make the point that the member for Gellibrand has asked many questions and I am trying to answer them. I am trying to give her the position generally on dental health and answer her specific questions as well. I was saying that an estimated 200,000 people will benefit from these new Medicare items, and they will commence on 1 November 2007. The budget significantly expands on the existing Medicare dental items, introduced in 2004, for people with chronic and complex conditions. The intention is to cover a broad range of areas. The member for Gellibrand asked about specific areas such as assessments, fillings, extractions and dentures. The member for Gellibrand specifically asked about whether dentures would be covered, and the answer is that that is the intention.

The implementation arrangements are currently being discussed with the dental profession. The government is working closely with the Australian Dental Association on the issue of rebate and out-of-pocket expenses. My understanding is that the Dental Association have been very pleased with this announcement by the government and it went much further than they had initially expected.

I was also asked about the uptake of existing dental items so far. That was a legitimate question from the member for Gellibrand. I think that the point the member for Gellibrand made about a low uptake of existing dental items is exactly the reason why the government has expanded this area of Medicare items. It is why we are addressing the issue. We recognised that there was an issue that needed to be looked at, and that is exactly why this item is in the budget. We are responding to the needs of the community, especially people with chronic health conditions. Rather than criticising us for doing so, I would have thought the Labor Party should congratulate the government on taking this excellent step.

The member for Gellibrand asked a specific question about type 2 diabetes. The answer to that question is that the copayment for type 2 diabetes has been set at $50 and the government will consider waiving the copayment for concession card holders when designing the administrative detail of the scheme in the near future. When that is done, the member for Gellibrand will no doubt be informed of it, as she is in the normal course of events.

I was also asked a question about Strattera and the PBS. I have to say that this is specifically an area for the Minister for Health and Ageing. I have sought advice from the department on the answer to the member for Gellibrand’s question and I have been told that all the appropriate staff in that area are in committee and unable to answer that question specifically today. I will take it on notice and make sure that an answer is provided to the member for Gellibrand in a very short space of time, which I think should be today or tomorrow, as soon as the appropriate staff are available.

The member for Gellibrand and the member for Shortland asked about ADHD. This is an area that has been of great interest to me. When I was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, I had something to say about issues to do with ADHD, Ritalin and drug prescription, specifically to infants and young people, and I initiated a review of the guidelines. When I was the parliamentary secretary to the minister for health we asked the Royal Australasian College of Physicians to conduct a review of the guidelines. The member for Gellibrand is quite right: they were rescinded in December 2005. It is an area that is of great interest, I think, to the mums and dads and grandparents of Australia, who are being bombarded with information that the uptake of these prescription drugs is growing exponentially.

When I was the parliamentary secretary to the minister for health and inquired about this area, I was told that some of the statistics indicated dramatic take-up of some of these prescription drugs because of the fact that they had not previously been on the PBS, and therefore, when they did come onto the PBS, there was a large movement from other drugs across to, for example, Ritalin. It did not mean necessarily there was a massive increase in the prescribing of ADHD drugs generally, but it meant that there was a movement across to particular drugs which were now much cheaper for the mums and dads who were purchasing them.

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