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CDBS expected to close by the end of the year

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Australian Dental Association
Australian Dental Association
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1 September 2016
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1 minute read
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  • Oral health
  • Advocacy
  • Dental practice

The bill to close the CDBS is scheduled to go before the House of Representatives next week, with an expected closure date of 31 December if legislation successfully passes both Houses of Parliament.

It is increasingly likely that the Child Dental Benefits Schedule will close on 31 December this year. 

Amendments to the Dental Benefits Act 2008, which will close the CDBS and enact its replacement the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme (caPDS), are before the House of Representatives, with a vote expected in the next sitting week commencing Monday 5 September. 

While it is expected these amendments will pass through the Lower House, the make-up of the new Senate means that its passage through that House cannot be predicted with absolute certainty. 

However, given the Government's determination to close the Scheme, which it first flagged in March this year, the ADA is urging practices to contact their patients and strongly encourage them to book any CDBS-eligible children in for treatment prior to the advised closure date. 

An assurance has been given that benefits will be paid for any eligible services provided on or before 31 December 2016. 

While the government is promoting the caPDS as an equitable replacement for the CDBS which will provide services to children and concession cardholder adults, the ADA continues to maintain that insufficient funding assistance is being provided to the states and territories who will administer the new scheme. 

The ADA is continuing to work closely with the Opposition and crossbenchers to address issues regarding the reduced accessibility of rural Australians to dental services under the new scheme and the need for a voucher scheme if patients cannot be seen within three months. 

The amended Act makes it clear that while $175 million has been allocated as the maximum funding for the caPDS during its first 6 months of operation from 1 January 2017, this could be reduced by the Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley once actual expenditure on the final four months of CDBS is known. 

The uncertainty over the eventual funding for the initial phase of the caPDS means that an unfair burden will be placed on the public healthcare system, profoundly disadvantaging the oral health of the most at-risk Australians.