'It's not free': P.E.I. dentists frustrated with federal dental plan

Federal politicians are giving seniors the impression that the government's new dental program means free dental care when it doesn't, says the Dental Association of P.E.I. and the group saysthat is already causing problems.

Frustration and confusion over the Canadian Dental Care Plan, announced late last year, has P.E.I. dentists turning away from the program, the association said. When it surveyed its members recently, it got 36 responses, representing about half of the association's members, and 32 of those dentists said they would not sign up for it.

"When the prime minister or the minister of health or [NDP Leader Jagmeet] Singh stands up and tells seniors, in particular, that you are now eligible to apply for this plan and your treatment will be free, right off the bat that causes a major problem for all dental offices," said association executive director Brian Barrett.

"Depending on your income level, that's not true. It's not free."

Seniors with household incomes above $90,000 a year are not eligible for the program. For seniors with incomes between $70,000 and $90,000, there is a co-pay.

'No idea where they got the numbers'

That is just the start of the difference between the Canada Dental Care Plan and free, said Barrett.

Even in cases where Ottawa allows for a full payment for service, that is full payment of a fee-for-service rate set by the government. But Barrett said those rates bear little resemblance to fees being charged by dentists on P.E.I.

"We have no idea where they got the numbers," he said."They have no relationship at all to the annual fee guides that we publish."

Typically, insurance companies pay a percentage of what's listed in provincial fee guides. That doesn't seem to have happened with the federal program, Barrett said. He added that many of the fees are close to 90 per cent of what dentists are charging.

Busy dental offices

This disconnect between the reality of the program and the perception that it is free is already causing problems for dentists, even before it is scheduled to launch in May.

Dental offices now find themselves in the position of having to explain to seniors why they will still have to pay for dental services, Barrett said.

"They've downloaded all that messaging problem onto our offices," he said."Front office staff are already too busy. We have a shortage of people that we can get to come and work."

Dentists are also still waiting for information about how the federal program will relate to the provincial program.

'Why do they give us a partial program?'

The $13 billion federaldental care plan is expected to eventually cover an estimated nine million low and middle incomeCanadians who don't have private dental insurance.

But Mary Boyd, director of P.E.I.'s MacKillop Centre for Social Justice, said Ottawa could fund a universal dental plan that's not tied to income for just over $1 billion more.

"Why do they give us a partial program? It's the first health-care program in Canada that has this kind of means test. Why limit the care, especially when it would cost very little by Canadian terms to make it universal, why aren't they doing it?" she said.

"I have a lot of sympathy for dentists and doctors who seem overwhelmed by administration and that should be streamlined in some way. But it's not a reason to prevent a universal program with a single payer."

In response to the association's concerns, a spokesperson for the federal Department of Health said Health Minister Mark Holland has never said that the program is free, and that information published online by the department clearly spells out who is eligible and co-pay arrangements.

How the program works is also outlined in letters sent to people who enroll in the program.

The fee rates set by the government are not yet firmly set, the spokesperson said, and consultations on those are continuing.