The new federal dental care plan has been seeing a low number of dentist buy-ins in Manitoba, which has made accessibility a problem for qualified people trying to use the program, as reported in an article by The Niverville Citizen.
The federal government had been introducing the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) in phases, which began with senior citizens in December 2023. The rollout for the plan had been awaited by Canadians as potentially helpful for them given the high prices for basic dental work. However, with the few dentist buy-ins seen across Manitoba, many have been unable to utilize the CDCP coverage.
“At this point, the sign-up of Manitoba dentists is low, but that is not because of a lack of support for the plan,” said Daron Baxter, the president of the Manitoba Dental Association (MDA).
“The Manitoba Dental Association and dentists across Manitoba and the country believe that this is a historic opportunity to improve access to care for patients who have financial barriers.”
Baxter further explained that the reason why there were few dentists who registered to become CDCP providers was because of the ambiguity of what dental offices were expected to offer as well as the idea of registering even being necessary in the first place.
“The government put a lot of work into getting patients ready for the CDCP. The work that’s been put into getting providers ready has been very late stage. We’re not ready to run this program,” said Baxter, adding how the MDA did not get a chance to have an audience with Mark Holland, the federal minister of health, until the program had already been designed.
The MDA president also pointed out how there were no other dental plans that required dentists to be registered first in order to treat their patients.
“What we’re strongly advocating for is that registration of oral healthcare providers should not be a component of the CDCP. It restricts access to care in that patients no longer have the freedom to see any licenced provider that they choose. This program should offer the same freedom of choice that all Canadians currently enjoy,” said Baxter.
“We just want to see CDCP-eligible patients have the same health autonomy that existing private and public plan patients have, and we think non-registration is a simple fix for that,” she added.
The Canadian Dental Care Plan is a publicly funded dental care plan that is aimed towards making oral healthcare more accessible to those with lower incomes. By 2025, every Canadian resident that has an annual household income lower than $90,000 will qualify to apply.
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