New Australian health programmes provide health checks for children and teen dental care

Jul 2 2008

Three new health programmes for children and teenagers have been announced by the Australian Federal Government which include a $150 voucher for teenage dental care, free health checks for children starting school and a guide to kids' health for parents.

These new health checks will cost the government $25 million and the dental program together with the Commonwealth dental program is expected to cost $780 million over three years.

Families who receive Family Tax Benefit Part A will be eligible for an annual $150 voucher for each child aged 12 to 17 years.

Items that also become available today include new Medicare items for children with autism and people at high risk of diabetes.

New medicines are now available on the Public Benefit Scheme (PBS) for people with multiple sclerosis, chronic kidney disease, Alzheimer disease, psoriasis of the scalp, as well as those from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Also coming into effect are new items for pre-school and diabetes checks along with a new teen dental treatment scheme and the Healthy Kids Check will be available to all four-year-olds.

Patients aged 40-49 at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes can now access a new Medicare item to allow doctors to review patients' risk factors and commence early intervention programs.

It now seems that the $4,250 allowance in the dental health item for patients with chronic and complex conditions is still available.

New PBS listings this month include natalizumab (Tysabri) for patients with from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, and cinacalcet (Sensipar) for secondary hyperparathyroidism in chronic kidney disease.

Other news is that from today all international medical graduates will have to pass the AMC’s multiple choice exam to gain registration, with the exception of overseas trained doctors on the specialist track and graduates from medical schools in countries deemed to be eligible for the Competent Authority pathway such as the UK, U.S. and Canada.