The Greens

[Seeds]

Medicare should include at least one free dental check-up per year for every single Australian. Preventative dental care is incredibly important and often the lowest income class are the ones that avoid this due to the costs. We all know how expensive serious dental problems can become if left untreated.

Screw that. myself and my kids only go to the dentist once every 3 years. Dental care is not incredibly important. Its incredibly overrated. dentists are as dodgy as automechanics. They say you need stuff that most of the time are not needed. dentists have too much power as it is. having medicare pay their bills would be insane.

 

[Mofra]

True buts its not a carbon tax. I.e. its not aimed at stopping production. Its just targetted at extracting resource rents for the people of norway. A great policy for wealth building, although it can only be implemented if the costs of production are well below the marginal costs of the industry. Which for Norway they are. Australia should employ it to.

I agree we should, but it would require the states giving up their individual imposition of resource royalties and getting it through Parliament.

It's a mighty ask, and that's before you consider just how opposed to it a large swathe of the the business lobby are to it

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Screw that. myself and my kids only go to the dentist once every 3 years. Dental care is not incredibly important. Its incredibly overrated.

Oh, well I suppose if you're okay then everyone else must be okay. Since everyone else's health and concerns are identical to yours, right?

 

[Brad Goodman]

Medicare should include at least one free dental check-up per year for every single Australian. Preventative dental care is incredibly important and often the lowest income class are the ones that avoid this due to the costs. We all know how expensive serious dental problems can become if left untreated.

It's pretty much the only thing I've used my private health for in the last five years.

 

[Seeds]

Oh, well I suppose if you're okay then everyone else must be okay. Since everyone else's health and concerns are identical to yours, right?

Most peoples are. you dont pay for everyone to get annual check ups when only a small minority actually do. Its incredibly wasteful. Instead you devise a different policy to help the minority that needs those regular check ups.

 

[Carn The Berries]

Medicare should include at least one free dental check-up per year for every single Australian. Preventative dental care is incredibly important and often the lowest income class are the ones that avoid this due to the costs. We all know how expensive serious dental problems can become if left untreated.

Definitely agree with this. I'd happily wear a Medicare surcharge to cover this.

 

[Carn The Berries]

Most peoples are. you dont pay for everyone to get annual check ups when only a small minority actually do. Its incredibly wasteful. Instead you devise a different policy to help the minority that needs those regular check ups.

Why would it be wasteful if it gets people going to the dentist more regularly? Prevention is much better than cure.

 

[SSwans2011]

Screw that. myself and my kids only go to the dentist once every 3 years.

Glad to see you're able to look just beyond your own interests...

But did you stop to consider the other 25.6 million people in the country beyond you and your kids?

 

[Seeds]

Why would it be wasteful if it gets people going to the dentist more regularly? Prevention is much better than cure.

why once a year? Why not every month? Prevention is better than cure.

why lower the driving speed limit down to 60km an hour? Why not 50 or 40 or 30km? prevention is better than cure.

 

[Seeds]

Glad to see you're able to look just beyond your own interests...

But did you stop to consider the other 25.6 million people in the country beyond you and your kids?

Yes. That was my whole point.

 

[SSwans2011]

why lower the driving speed limit down to 60km an hour? Why not 50 or 40 or 30km? prevention is better than cure.

We could just make public transport cheaper (or free) and get more people off the road. Would hopefully achieve the same result.

And ironically enough, that's another Greens policy in QLD on a state-level, and Brisbane on a local-level.

It's a strange whataboutist angle you're taking here though.

 

[Seeds]

It's pretty much the only thing I've used my private health for in the last five years.

Anyone who pays extra for dental on their private health insurance (other then those who know they arent far off from having a major dental emergency) does not know how to do insurance.

insurance is not for things you need annually. Its for unlikely but costly downside events only. Otherwise you are throwing money down the drain.

 

[Seeds]

We could just make public transport cheaper (or free) and get more people off the road. Would hopefully achieve the same result.

And ironically enough, that's another Greens policy in QLD on a state-level, and Brisbane on a local-level.

It's a strange whataboutist angle you're taking here though.

Its not whataboutism. You have missed the point. The net costs to society of everyone getting a checkup every year (through all the wasted time and expenditure that could be better put to other services. Like more hospitals and shortening hospital wait times) in my view is much greater then the net benefits to society (of rarely preventing dental emergencies).

 

[Millky95]

God, I love the ignore button.

Arguing against dental in Medicare is like arguing we should have private fire fighters and you should get 3 quotes whilst your house burns down, imo.

I didn't go to the dentist for years and after my last check up after finally getting my wisdom teeth taken out (8 years later after knowing they needed to go) I probably will never go again after how much it was. If I got even 40% of it back I'd probably go yearly

 

[Brad Goodman]

Anyone who pays extra for dental on their private health insurance

Good thing I don't

 

[Seeds]

God, I love the ignore button.

Arguing against dental in Medicare is like arguing we should have private fire fighters and you should get 3 quotes whilst your house burns down, imo.

I didn't go to the dentist for years and after my last check up after finally getting my wisdom teeth taken out (8 years later after knowing they needed to go) I probably will never go again after how much it was. If I got even 40% of it back I'd probably go yearly

Lol this guy backs up my point without even realising it. didnt need it for 8 years until after the dentists wanted it done. Would never pay for it himself cos its not worth it, even though he is the beneficiary.

and no its has nothing to do with privatising services. Its about making the most valuable services free. Dental in my view is not one of them.

 

[SSwans2011]

Lol this guy backs up my point without even realising it. didnt need it for 8 years until after the dentists wanted it done. Would never pay for it himself cos its not worth it, even though he is the beneficiary.

and no its has nothing to do with privatising services.

Yeah, because leaving wisdom teeth in your mouth, that professionals have advised you should be removed, because of the cost, is really emblematic of a great healthcare system.

Point proven.

 

[Millky95]

Also why can't healthcare be a service? And therefore is also privatized?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

 

[Seeds]

Yeah, because leaving wisdom teeth in your mouth that professionals have advised you should be removed because of the costs is really emblematic of a great healthcare system.

Point proven.

Not eight years early it aint. Theres a cost to doing something 8 years too early.

if free dental for everyone means less money for hospitals (Cos you know, money doesnt grow on trees) then which do you choose? Hospitals or free dental checkups for everyone?

 

[Kwality]

No they are not cutting production. They export most of the oil so it doesnt count as norways emissions. They get the money but absolve themselves of the emissions responsibility. Just like we do for our coal exports. Pity we didnt set up a sovereign wealth fund for our fossil fuel exports like norway did.

Are you suggesting Norways oil exports are treated differently to Aus coal exports when measuring emissions ?

 

[SSwans2011]

Not eight years early it aint. Theres a cost to doing something 8 years too early.

And what is that cost exactly?

if free dental for everyone means less money for hospitals (Cos you know, money doesnt grow on trees) then which do you choose? Hospitals or free dental checkups for everyone?

I'm confident we can do both.

 

[pazza]

Honestly..I think they have become a legitimate major party now. That's huge.

 

[Seeds]

Are you suggesting Norways oil exports are treated differently to Aus coal exports when measuring emissions ?

No they are treated the same. If they are are exported their emissions dont count To a countries emission goals.

 

[SSwans2011]

Honestly..I think they have become a legitimate major party now. That's huge.

And even if they haven't it gives Labor a lot to think about. It's not inconceivable that they take Macnamara and Richmond at the next election, and Brisbane if they don't get up there this time around, which leaves Labor with an important question - are they happy to cop those potential losses, or do they move further to the left?

If the trends in inner-city seats continue, the Teals will make it difficult for the LNP to form a majority government, and The Greens could very well make it difficult for the ALP to form a majority government.

 

[Seeds]

Honestly..I think they have become a legitimate major party now. That's huge.

they are as legitimately major as the nationals. They have major niches but not broadbased appeal.

they also are going to have a big setback when the majors adopt peer consistent climate change policies.