Future Dental Care Reform and High-Cost Protection

The plan explicitly demands a dental insurance with a high-cost protection of the same kind as in other health and medical care, and that dental care be included in health and medical care with the same fees. The counter-proposal's demand to bring dental care into the high-cost protection is therefore precisely what the plan wants, while a gradually expanded reimbursement system does not solve the socioeconomic dental health gaps the plan points out.

• dental insurance with high-cost protectiondecisive»Vänsterpartiet vill därför införa en tandvårdsförsäkring liknande den som finns inom övrig hälso- och sjukvård med ett högkostnadsskydd som gör att vuxna människor med behov inte ska behöva tacka nej till god tandvård.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party therefore wants to introduce a dental insurance similar to that which exists in other health and medical care with a high-cost protection so that adult people with need do not have to decline good dental care.”
• dental care with health care fees»Vi vill att tandvården inkluderas i hälso- och sjukvården, med samma taxor.« (party programme ↗)“We want dental care to be included in health and medical care, with the same fees.”
• socioeconomic dental health gaps»Trots att tandhälsan i befolkningen som helhet har förbättrats kvarstår betydande socioekonomiska skillnader.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Although dental health in the population as a whole has improved, significant socioeconomic gaps remain.”

The plan explicitly establishes equal dental care integrated into general healthcare. This is precisely what the counter-proposal demands when it wants to bring dental care into the high-cost protection system rather than a gradually expanded separate reimbursement system. The plan builds further on healthcare being provided according to need and not according to ability to pay, and on equal right to good healthcare through public provision.

• tandvård in i sjukvårdendecisive»Jämlik tandvård som integreras i övrig hälso- och sjukvård.« (party programme ↗)“Equal dental care integrated into general healthcare.”
• vård efter behov»vård utifrån behov, och inte utifrån möjligheten att betala« (party programme ↗)“healthcare according to need, and not according to ability to pay”
• lika rätt till god vård»Lika rätt för alla till god hälso- och sjukvård genom samhällets försorg.« (party programme ↗)“Equal right for all to good healthcare through public provision.”
• jämlik folkhälsa»Jämlik och jämställd folkhälsa.« (party programme ↗)“Equal and equitable public health.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto explicitly demands that dental care be made equal to other health and medical care and included in the same high-cost protection. The party programme states that dental care shall be financed the same way as other medical care to prevent good dental health from becoming a class issue. The counter-proposal's demand for a more comprehensive dental care reform with dental care in the high-cost protection is thus exactly what the plan promises.

• dental care in high-cost protectiondecisive»att tandvården ska jämställas med övrig hälso- och sjukvård, och ingå i samma högkostnadsskydd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“that dental care shall be made equal to other health and medical care, and included in the same high-cost protection”
• dental care financed as medical care»Tandvården ska finansieras på samma sätt som övrig sjukvård för att« (party programme ↗)“Dental care shall be financed the same way as other medical care in order to”
• dental health not a class issue»motverka att det är en klassfråga att ha god tandhälsa.« (party programme ↗)“prevent that it is a class issue to have good dental health.”
• expanded high-cost protection»att hjälpmedel ska ingå i högkostnadsskyddet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“that aids shall be included in high-cost protection”

flags: citat_migrerat

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan does not address dental care. The closest principle is that policy should be economical with taxpayers' money and that the total tax burden should be reduced, which speaks against including dental care in the healthcare system's high-cost protection — one of the largest new public commitments that can be made in this field. Care should be given according to need and not according to ability to pay pulls in the other direction, so certainty is low.

• economical with taxpayer fundsdecisive»Politiken ska hushålla med skattebetalarnas pengar. Mer pengar ska läggas på välfärdens kärna, mindre på bidrag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Policy should be economical with taxpayers' money. More money should be spent on the core of welfare, less on benefits.”
• lower total tax burden»Det totala skattetrycket måste ner nästa mandatperiod.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The total tax burden must be reduced in the next mandate period.”
• care according to need»att snabbt få vård i den offentligt finansierade sjukvården ska ges efter behov och inte efter betalningsförmåga.« (party programme ↗)“that quick access to care in publicly financed healthcare should be given according to need and not according to ability to pay.”

The plan states that dental care financing should gradually resemble other healthcare and that the next step is a gradually increasing subsidy level for groups with the poorest oral health. This is a gradual expansion of the reimbursement system, not dental care being introduced into the high-cost protection for healthcare. The counter-proposal's requirement for an immediate and more comprehensive restructuring therefore goes beyond what the plan commits to.

• gradual dental care reformdecisive»Tandvårdens finansiering ska steg för steg likna annan sjukvård där du som patient betalar mindre och samhället mer. Nästa steg är gradvis ökande subventionsgrad för de grupper som har sämst munhälsa och nationella tandvårdsprogram för särskilda riskgrupper.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Dental care financing should gradually resemble other healthcare where you as a patient pay less and society pays more. The next step is a gradually increasing subsidy level for groups with the poorest oral health and national dental care programmes for specific risk groups.”
• prioritization of poorest oral health»Tandvårdens finansiering ska stegvis göras mer lik den i övrig hälso- och sjukvård genom ökande subventionsgrad. De personer som har sämst munhälsa ska prioriteras.« (party programme ↗)“Dental care financing should gradually be made more similar to that in other healthcare through an increasing subsidy level. People with the poorest oral health should be prioritized.”
• dental care regardless of income»Ingen ska tvingas avstå från tandvård på grund av låg inkomst.« (party programme ↗)“No one should be forced to forgo dental care due to low income.”

The party programme requires that conditions for dental care to a greater extent shall resemble those for health and medical care otherwise and that everyone shall have access to good dental care. To include dental care in the cost protection for health and medical care is precisely such an approximation. The election manifesto furthermore wants to lower the cost protection for dental care, and the plan establishes that access to necessary care must never become an economic question.

• dental care on healthcare's termsdecisive»efterlikna de för hälso- och sjukvården i övrigt. Alla ska ha tillgång till god tandvård.« (party programme ↗)“resemble those for health and medical care otherwise. Everyone shall have access to good dental care”
• lowered cost protection in dental care»Stärkt tandvård för äldre bland annat genom att sänka högkostnadsskyddet för tandvård.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthened dental care for the elderly among other things through lowering the cost protection for dental care”
• care according to need not wallet»Det får aldrig bli en ekonomisk fråga om man ska kunna få tillgång till den service,« (party programme ↗)“It must never become an economic question whether one shall be able to get access to the service,”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The party programme warns explicitly against the idea that welfare's safety net shall constantly be expanded and become more comprehensive, because it hollows out the core mission. The election manifesto moreover requires that all new reforms are financed within the surplus target and that hard priorities are made. Bringing dental care into the high-cost protection is such a major expansion; the plan instead directs care resources toward queues, cancer care and child and adolescent psychiatry.

• no constant welfare expansiondecisive»Ett långsiktigt hot mot den svenska välfärden är föreställningen om att den befinner sig i ett ständigt pågående skede« (party programme ↗)“A long-term threat to Swedish welfare is the idea that it finds itself in a constantly ongoing phase”
• financed reforms»Alla nya löften och reformer – som till exempel våra inkomstskattesänkningar – behöver finansieras eller rymmas inom överskottsmålet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All new promises and reforms – such as our income tax cuts – need to be financed or fit within the surplus target.”
• hard priorities»De stora behoven inom rättsväsendet, försvaret och välfärden ställer stora krav på prioriteringar under åren som kommer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The major needs within the justice system, defence and welfare place great demands on priorities in the years to come.”
• targeted care investments»Utöka kömiljarden genom att rikta särskilda prestationsbaserade resurser till köerna inom cancervården respektive barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin (BUP)« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Expand the queue fund by directing special performance-based resources to queues within cancer care and child and adolescent psychiatry (BUP) respectively”

The election manifesto explicitly establishes that all citizens shall be offered dental care on the same terms as other care and that the state shall take the same responsibility for oral and dental health as for other health. The counter-proposal's demand to bring dental care into the high-cost protection for healthcare is precisely that commitment put into practice. A gradually expanded special compensation system does not fulfil the same-terms principle.

• dental care on the same termsdecisive»Att alla medborgare ska erbjudas tandvård på samma villkor som annan vård« (2022 manifesto ↗)“That all citizens shall be offered dental care on the same terms as other care”
• public responsibility for dental health»Ambitionen ska vara att det offentliga ska ta samma ansvar för medborgarnas mun- och tandhälsa, som för annan hälsa.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The ambition shall be that the state shall take the same responsibility for citizens' oral and dental health as for other health.”
• solidarity-financed care»hälso- och sjukvården ska vara solidariskt finansierad via skattsedeln, ges« (party programme ↗)“healthcare shall be funded in solidarity via taxation, provided”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.