DENTISTS TAKE TO THE COURTS
Want to pull out of public system
Lawyers representing Quebec’s dentists are to appear in court Thursday to try to overturn a government decree barring them from withdrawing from the public health-care system for the next two years.
Nearly 2,000 dentists seeking higher pay from the government had served notice with the province’s medicare board that they would pull out of the public system asofAug.26—amovethatwould have required those on social assistance and children under the age of 10 pay out of pocket for dental care.
But that same day, Health Minister Gaétan Barrette issued a government decree — or arrêté ministériel — binding the dentists to stay within the public system until 2020.
The Association des chirurgiens dentistes du Québec (ACDQ), representing 4,300 dentists, is challenging the decree in Quebec Superior Court, arguing that the government is denying their right to negotiate. However, lawyers on both sides haven’t been able to agree on the dates when they can plead their cases in court.
The two sides were hoping to reach an agreement on dates by 5 p.m. Wednesday, but failed to do so. As a result, a judge will impose a series of dates on Thursday for both sides. Dr. Serge Langlois, president of the ACDQ, said the association’s lawyers are keen to argue their case in the midst of the provincial election campaign, but the government wants to put off court hearings until after the Oct. 1 vote.
“The last time we renewed our agreements with the government, in 2008 and in 2012, we negotiated just before the elections,” Langlois said. “In 2012, we signed a deal one week before the election.”
“It’s very frustrating,” he added, noting that the association had sought negotiations with the government since May 2017.
“It’s shocking that the government imposed this decree on our members. This decree has undermined our right to negotiate.”
The dentists have been without an agreement since 2015. At issue are operating expenses. For every dollar that dentists bill the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), they are reimbursed 67 cents for operating expenses.
Langlois contends that dentists are reimbursed 20 to 25 per cent less for such expenses for patients in the public system than those who have private insurance.
Quebec’s dentists bill patients who have private insurance, and they are allowed to invoice RAMQ for Quebecers who are on social assistance as well as children. Those two groups number more than 623,000 patients. On average, RAMQ patients represent 10 per cent of the caseload of dentists.
Barrette had proposed increasing the amount that dentists are reimbursed by the inflation rate. But Langlois countered that adjusting for inflation is not enough, and the association has conducted the research to prove this.
The incumbent Liberal government is keenly aware of the potential effect of the dentists’ dispute on its re-election chances. On Sunday, the day that the dentists had intended to officially withdraw from the public system, Premier Philippe Couillard promised to extend free dental care to children between the ages of 11 and 16 as well as to low-income seniors.
The extended coverage would cost about $150 million a year for one million Quebecers.