New arrangements will provide eligible patients with up to $4,250 worth of Medicare-funded dental treatment over two consecutive calendar years.

In the 2007 Budget, the Government provided an expansion of the existing Medicare dental items for people with chronic and complex conditions. The Budget announcement included an annual diagnostic consultation and a maximum of $2,000 in benefits for dental treatment each calendar year.

The new provisions announced today will give more flexibility for patients to receive dental treatment when they require services. It means that many patients who require complex treatment such as restorative dental work or dentures will now receive Medicare services as part of a single course of treatment rather than having to split or defer treatment across different calendar years.

These Medicare items target people with chronic and complex conditions (such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer) where the person's oral health is having, or is likely to have, an impact on his or her general health. To be eligible, a person needs to be under a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements. Residents of aged care facilities can also have access to the dental items if they are managed by a GP under a multidisciplinary care plan. All patients will need to be referred to a dentist by a GP.

The new Medicare dental items will commence on 1 November 2007, subject to the passage of legislation, at an estimated cost of $384.6 million over four years, up from an estimated $377.6 million on Budget night.