Budget 2010. Not good.

foret

Details re how budget will affect patients.

As far as i see PRSI will be just entitled to exam. No contrib to fillings. No scale and polish.

I could be wrong..but budget looking for 54million saving:

"Treatment Benefits
In 2010, the entitlements under the Treatment Benefit Scheme will be limited to the Medical and Surgical appliances scheme and the free examination elements of the Dental and Optical Benefit schemes. "


Also the budget for medical card holders to be reduced by 30million ...

"Revision to DTSS Scheme
Under the Dental Treatment Services Scheme, adult medical card holders may obtain dental services from dentists in private practice under contract to the HSE. Expenditure in the Dental Treatment Services Scheme has risen by 60% over the past five years. In order to achieve the savings outlined in Budget 2010, the HSE will put measures in place to contain DTSS expenditure at 2008 levels."


It is interesting how this was not picked up initially be media who highlight the 50cent charge on scripts for card holders. I think the language used to describe the schemes is unhelpful and unclear.

Anyway just my take , I could be wrong but looks bad.:(

NotaDinosaur

That's my reading of the details also,

i really hope that this isn't the correct interpretation.

http://www.budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2010/Summary.aspx#SocialWelfare

This will place a disproportionate stress on middle income families and their expenditure on essential healthcare.

No mention of tax-deductibility of certain treatments though

unfair. thoroughly unfair.

suzieb

Was just about to post on this too.

This isn't very clear on what exactly will happen.

Presume prsi patients who qualify are still entitled to their yearly examination but will not be eligible for scale and polish and will have to pay full amount for fillings etc.

Really hope this is not the case, from a personal point of view, there is no way my job is safe if this is the case as my employers book would be empty as most people would be unwilling to attend unless they are having trouble,with 95% of patients attending covered under med card or prsi scheme it would have terrible consequences for us.

Hate to see what will happen peoples teeth in the future also, I see from my own grandparents that have had full clearances in their early 30's because they could not afford long term care of their teeth, with the prsi scheme changed people would find it hard to attend regularly for check ups and fillings when needed.

Big_G

This is a disaster, for both dentists and patients. Clearly the government views dentistry as a luxury. What a shame. Get set for the brain drain...

Mr. Presentable

You can still claim a portion back as medical expenses.

What about the self-employed? They get no benefit for PRSI paid and pay all dental expenses in full, and have done.

hick

just a thought as a patient
this isn't the end of the world,

the check is free still, ensuring that people will still be entitled to a review of their current state, at this point it is then up to the practitioner to decide the best course of action and discuss it with along with the financial implications.

I'm sure a compromise can be reached by both parties

Stark

Much as I like my dentist down South and would hate to see her go out of business, I think the compromise for me will be to go up North for treatment. I just couldn't afford to be hit with €150 per filling

georgieporgy

Dentists in the north were claiming from prsi also, just like dentists in the south. So the prsi cutbacks will be neutral in that regard.

NotaDinosaur

Agreed that it didn't cover self-employed people,

but, self assessed people don't pay the same degree of PRSI.

There is plenty of research to show that access to frontline healthcare for the country's most vulnerable people is hugely affected by perceived immediate cost.

There is a direct correlation between oral health and general health.

This is poor choice from a government who has chosen to protect itself rather than its most at risk citizens.

Shameful.

vishal

http://www.irishdentist.ie/news/news_detail.php?id=2424

http://www.dentist.ie/resources/news/showarticle.jsp?id=860

ballsymchugh

time to go back to school i think!

Big_G

Or emigrate

ballsymchugh

i've just been back a few months!! feck. went from partner in an NHS practice to associate here, and it's quiet enough here anyway. it's only going to get quieter for the next while.

res ipsa

IF YOU STAY, YOU PAY.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to €100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay €1.
The sixth would pay €3.
The seventh would pay €7.
The eighth would pay €12.
The ninth would pay €18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay €59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he
said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by €20." Drinks for the ten now cost just €80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men-the paying customers? How could they divide the €20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?

They realized that €20 divided by six is €3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid €2 instead of €3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay €5 instead of €7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid €9 instead of €12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid €14 instead of €18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid €49 instead of €59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a Euro out of the €20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "But he got €10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a Euro, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I did!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get €10 back > when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a 20% tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up any more. In fact, they might start drinking overseas.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

foret

Maybe the tenth was a wee man who cant take a good beating?

No gloating now Res > .

Have some charity for us here in the old sod.

Like the analogy.

canioeire

foret wrote: »

Maybe the tenth was a wee man who cant take a good beating?

No gloating now Res > .

Have some charity for us here in the old sod.

Like the analogy.

??