Only self-employed dentists in the health network will be able to offer dental care under the federal program. Those who are employees will have to continue to respect Quebec’s ban, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) said on Wednesday.
In certain hospitals, such as the CHU Sainte-Justine and the University of Montreal Hospital Center (CHUM), dentists are generally self-employed. They will thus be able to make a claim to the diet in the name of their patients. On the other hand, Quebecers treated with salaried dentists will still not be able to benefit from the federal program.
Ce n’est pourtant pas ce qui avait été compris par les établissements de santé. In recent days, a poster placed in the waiting room of the CHUM dentistry department mentioned: “Canadian dental care plan. Veuillez noter que notre clinique de médecine dentaire n’est pas autorisée à fournir ce programme. »
Clarification should be sent by the MSSS in the coming days to all health establishments.
Irresponsible and unfair, says Ottawa
“It is deeply worrying to see the Quebec government playing politics at the expense of the health of its citizens. Preventing health professionals from providing essential services to those who need them is not only irresponsible but unfair to the hundreds of thousands of Quebecers who rely on this program,” declared the press secretary of the Minister of Health of Canada, Matthew Kronberg.
The Press reported last Friday that children, seniors and people with disabilities do not have access to the federal program. The Quebec government considers that this program is an interference in its field of health matters and prohibits its application in its healthcare establishments. However, patients in private clinics have access to them.
The Legault government wants to withdraw from the federal program and obtain compensation to improve its own programs. Negotiations with Ottawa are still ongoing.
Ottawa says it is open to withdraw Quebec from the program provided it offers the same level of care as that offered by the regime. “To date, the government of Quebec has not proposed solutions or concrete plans to watch over it,” says Kronberg.
Québec Solidaire requests surveys
Québec solidaire asked the Québec Ombudsman and the Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights to investigate this directive.
« Je suis tombée en bas de ma chaise », dit la députée de Sherbrooke et porte-parole de Québec solidaire, Christine Labrie. She believes that this directive could lead to discrimination in access to care and risks harming the health of many citizens.
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The neo-democrats also called themselves “extremely disturbed” by the Quebec Directive. The leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, and his deputy leader, Alexandre Boulerice, called on Justin Trudeau’s government on Wednesday to call “the Legault government to order.”
“It takes a nasty gang of heartless people to be able to punish people, to hurt people like that who would otherwise have the right to have access to the dentist,” denounced Mr. Boulerice at a press briefing on Wednesday. For what ? Because you are in a CHSLD or community clinic, you do not have the right to have access to a federal program that concerns all citizens. »
The Canadian Dental Care Diet (RCSD), entered into force on 1er last May, aims to provide dental care coverage to Canadian residents whose adjusted net family income is less than $90,000 and who do not have access to dental insurance. The plan is currently available to seniors, children and people with disabilities. It will gradually be expanded to all age groups in the coming months.