Labor to break promise on dental subsidy scheme

Health Minister Nicola Roxon has ruled out funding a comprehensive dental subsidy scheme in the May budget, breaking one of Labor's key commitments

Health Minister Nicola Roxon has ruled out funding a comprehensive dental subsidy scheme in the May budget, breaking a key commitment Labor struck with the Greens to form government.

Ms Roxon told The Australian yesterday any new program to cover the cost of dental treatment for low-income Australians was "not going to be achievable in this budget" and there was "no magic pudding" of money available.

Ms Roxon also put medical researchers on notice that she had a "difficult message" for them after refusing to douse speculation that $400 million would be cut from their budgets.

"They have had increased funding each year we have been in government -- they haven't been subject to any savings measures in any previous budgets, and there aren't many areas of health expenditure that you can say that about," she said.

The government is preparing to slash health spending as part of its bid to find billions in savings to ensure the nation's balance sheet returns to surplus in 2012-13, and Julia Gillard has begun preparing Australians for budget pain.

But Labor will need support from the Greens to pass its budget measures. In a pre-budget interview with The Australian, Ms Roxon also held little hope that radiologists would win across-the-board increases to their Medicare rebates, which have remained frozen for 13 years.

And she defended controversial moves to slow the addition of new drugs to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, saying it was only right for politicians to assess whether the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Ms Roxon said while a comprehensive dental scheme would not be achievable in this budget, the government would meet its commitments in the longer term.

"There isn't a magic pudding . . . we are having discussions with the Greens about investments needed in dental health, as well as a lot of other areas such as mental health and (spending on) rural and regional Australia," she said.

In September last year the Prime Minister signed an agreement with the Greens that committed her government to including a dental scheme in the budget in return for their support to form government. "The parties agree on the following policy issues: that Australia needs urgent further action on dental care and that proposals for improving the nation's investments in dental care should be considered in the context of the 2011 budget," the agreement said.

Ms Roxon said yesterday the government "stands by our commitment that (dental health) is something that needs to be dealt with in this term of government".

"But this term doesn't end with the budget that's coming up in a month's time," she added.

Greens health spokeswoman Rachel Siewert said the Greens were in ongoing discussions with the government about improving dental health and mental healthcare for Australians.

"This year's budget should begin to address the issue, but it will take more than one federal budget to deliver the significant changes needed in dental care," Senator Siewert said.

"The Greens also put a strong case for mental health in this year's budget."

Australian Dental Association chief executive Robert Boyd-Boland was "disappointed" there would be no subsidy scheme in the May budget.