Frustration with new program
P.E.I. dentists concerned about administrative burdens, other stipulations
The executive director of the Dental Association of P.E.I. says 90 per cent of dentists it has surveyed in the province do not plan to sign up for a new federal program designed to bring affordable oral care to millions of Canadians.
In an interview with SaltWire on March 18, Dr. Brian Barrett, executive director of the association, said the administrative burdens of the new Canadian Dental Care Plan are leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of P.E.I. dentists.
Barrett said 32 of the 36 dentists surveyed said they would not participate. The survey was sent to 60 dentists in the province and 36 completed it.
In a March 18 email circulated to members, the association said the federal dental program, "in its current form," is not yet ready, even though the federal government has already begun enrolling millions of seniors.
“If you decide that the government is going to take a hand in it and spend taxpayer dollars, you may as well do it right," Barrett said.
"If it's a hassle for the dentists that are trying to take care of them, they're not going to sign up."
Despite the reservations from Dental Association of P.E.I. members, Barrett said his organization will support the program "because it is going to help so many people."
FRUSTRATIONS
Barrett’s comments reflect similar frustrations with the Canadian Dental Care Plan expressed by dental associations in other provinces.
Applications for the dental program opened in December 2023 for those aged 87 and
older. Currently, seniors over the age of 70 can submit their applications. Enrolment for children under 18 is slated to start in June 2024 while enrolment for all Canadians is expected some time in 2025.
The program is offered to those with a net household income lower than $90,000 per year, who do not already have dental insurance.
For those with a household income lower than $70,000, the federal government says it will cover 100 per cent of dental services under the federal plan.
For those with a net household income of between $70,000 and $80,000, the federal program will cover 60 per cent of costs while those with a household income of $80,000 to $90,000 will see 40 per cent of their costs covered.
The federal government’s website says seniors who have signed up will be able to visit their dental office “as early as May 2024.”
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland says the program is already proving popular. He says 4,563 P.E.I. seniors and 1.4 million Canadian
seniors have signed up.
In a March 15 interview, Holland said this demonstrates the need for more affordable dental care.
"I think it has huge potential for prevention. And frankly it's just a point of dignity," Holland said.
More than one third of Canadians lack access to private or public dental insurance, according to Statistics Canada.
‘NO CO-PAYS’
The Canadian Dental Care
Plan was the result of a political agreement reached in 2022 between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
That agreement included a commitment for the program to offer “no co-pays” for those with less than a $70,000 household income.
But Barrett said the claim that people will face no copays is misleading. People may still end having to pay out of pocket for dental care, he said.
He said the federal government is providing 100 per cent coverage of its own fee guide, not dentists’ fees.
"The politicians across the country have been saying to people it's free. Well, it's not free if they're not paying what the dentist charges somebody,” Barrett said.
Barrett says his organization is currently negotiating with the federal government on fee guides for the new program. But fees for dental services are not a sticking point; the federal fees are comparable to a provincial low-income dental program.
However, for some procedures, the federal fee guides may only cover 60 per cent of what dentists would normally get.
“If your expenses are 60 per cent, you can't accept that as full payment, you're not making any money at all. You still have to pay your staff and everybody else," Barrett said.
Barrett says a more pressing irritant is the requirement that dentists who sign up for the federal program agree to stipulations established by Sun Life Canada, which is administering the program.
This includes allowing Sun Life to audit the books of dental offices.
If dentists do not sign up for the federal program, it remains unclear if individuals will be able have their oral care covered in their communities.
Holland said conversations are still ongoing with dental associations across Canada. He said staff is looking at the cost of procedures in each province to determine “a fair amount for taxpayers to pay.”
“This is an expensive undertaking to cover nine million people. We have to be responsible to taxpayers to make sure that we're paying what is fair and reasonable," Holland said.
He said he has had “constructive” conversations with the Dental Association of P.E.I. and that agreement has been found on some issues.
P.E.I. already has a dental care coverage program for low- to medium-income Islanders, but it is less generous than the federal program. The program’s highest income threshold for a single individual is a yearly income of $30,820. In this case, the program would cover only 20 per cent of dental costs; the federal program may end up covering 100 per cent of dental costs for the same individual.
It remains unclear how the coverage between these two programs will overlap.