The potential start date for the federal government’s plan for affordable dental care is just over a month away. Some providers in Alberta are raising questions about the details of the program and whether or not it’s worth opting in.
Last December, Ottawa unveiled the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) for low and middle-income people without private insurance.
The plan arose from the Liberal and NDP confidence-and-supply agreement in 2022.
To be eligible under the plan, Canadians must not already have access to dental insurance, have an annual adjusted family net income of under $90,000, be a Canadian resident for tax purposes, and have a filed tax return from the previous year.
The adjusted net income, the government says, refers to a family’s net income plus any universal child care benefit (UCCB) and registered disability savings plan (RDSP) amounts repaid, minus any UCCB and RDSP income received.
“To be honest, I don’t know if this program is going to improve access to care,” said Alberta Dental Association (ADA) president Dr. Jenny Doerksen.
“I feel like it’s going to create more barriers between the patients and the providers. This program is asking the dentists to sign a contract with unknown terms and conditions.”
Seniors are the first ones eligible for the program.
They will be able to access oral health care treatment through the CDCP as early as May, with applications open since December for those 87 and above, and to additional age groups in the months since. As of this month, those 70 and older are eligible to apply, with those 65 to 69 able to sign up come May.
Doerksen says one of the biggest misconceptions about the plan is the cost.
“Some people might be thinking that this is a free dental program and will be surprised when there’s extra costs or out-of-pocket expenses. There’s a bit of hesitation of the unknown,” she said.
Instead, the dental program will reimburse a percentage of dental procedures, but some people covered under the plan may have a co-payment. This is the percentage of the dental plan that is not covered by the federal government, which people will have to pay out of pocket.
Family net incomes between $70,000 and $79,000 will have a 40 per cent co-payment. And those between $80,000 and $89,000 will have a 60 per cent co-payment plan.
Doerksen believes when the plan is operational, it could create more red tape for clinics and administrative burden.
The ADA says since the plan is voluntary, not all dentists may participate, in turn making it harder for patients to find care.
“We are very concerned about patients autonomy. Their freedom to choose their provider, they have built their relationship, that the provider knows your background, your culture, your oral health. We are just more concerned about how this program is impacting the relationship between the patients and the providers,” Doerksen said.
Doerksen says the Alberta Dental Association, other provincial groups in Alberta and across the country were not consulted until a month before the plan was revealed.
However, in a statement to Global News, Health Canada says it has met with the organizations since 2022.
“They are aware of the details of the plan and have been readily consulted directly on how we can best work with them to make this a success, along with similar consultations having taken place with other oral health professionals, regulatory bodies, and advocacy associations. These efforts include the establishment of active working groups on fee setting, to address administrative burden, and on program communications. Our work together has been helpful to date, and has led to positive changes like in the crafting and streamlining of the claims and payment processing agreement, in efforts to making filing claims easy and similar to how they would submit claims with private insurance plans, and in having claims payment within 2 business days,” read the statement.
Not all dentists are hesitant about signing up, however. Smiles Dental director Amanda Peterson says it could be a good initiative to get more patients in chairs.
“We’re really excited about it. It’ll provide opportunities for patients without insurance to be able to have some type of coverage. I think it will be really helpful, especially for young families. I think it will be a good opportunity for patients to get a lot of their basic treatment done for checkups and cleanings,” Peterson said.
Health Canada says more than 1.6 million Canadians have registered for the program.
— With files from Global News’ Katie Dangerfield and Sean Previl
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