(OTTAWA) The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates the federal dental plan will cost nearly $3 billion less than the Liberals projected this spring, assuming provincial governments don’t drop their own coverage.
The Liberals promised a stand-alone dental insurance plan for low- and middle-income Canadians who are not covered by group insurance. This promise is part of the “support and confidence agreement” concluded last year with the New Democrats to avoid the triggering of an early election.
The dental care program is expected to launch before the end of 2023, starting with eligible people under the age of 18, people with disabilities and seniors.
The Liberals originally set aside $5.3 billion over five years to launch this program. But they raised that forecast to $13 billion in the most recent budget last March, based on internal estimates of the true cost of the program.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) suggests instead that the cost will be closer to $10.1 billion, thanks in part to existing dental insurance coverage in some provinces and copayments paid by some beneficiaries.
The PBO points out, however, that if the provinces abandoned their existing coverage and instead referred their beneficiaries to the federal plan, the estimate would increase and the cost would be $2 billion more than the budget so far projected by the government.
“Collaboration with the provinces and territories is absolutely essential, even if only 5% of current dental costs are covered by plans” provincial and territorial, argued Wednesday the federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, in conference of press in Bedford, Nova Scotia.
Offer varies by province
Dental coverage in Canada is a patchwork of private, provincial and federal plans that vary considerably across the country. Provinces generally offer programs for low-income families, and many cover basic dental care for children, but the level of coverage and service baskets are not consistent across the country.
The Liberal government and the New Democratic Party are seeking to fill the gaps without disrupting existing coverage. The ultimate goal is to provide dental coverage to people whose household income is less than $90,000 per year and who do not have private insurance or group insurance at work.
Canadians will be able to combine provincial and federal coverage, but the details of these linkages are not yet known. “The federal plan will make it more homogeneous and much stronger for low- and middle-income families in the country,” Mr. Duclos assured on Wednesday.
Some public policy experts and members of the opposition fear that the creation of the federal program will encourage provinces to eliminate or reduce their offer and encourage their citizens to turn to Ottawa.
Mr. Duclos maintains that the majority of middle-income families would not be eligible for provincial programs anyway, and that families covered are generally offered a fairly limited basket of services.
“Prevention, unfortunately, is lacking in many settings. Families don’t take their kids to the dentist, to the dental hygienist, and that leads to issues that are more expensive and harder to deal with later,” he said.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer based some of his projections on the other federally administered dental plan, the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, available to First Nations and Inuit people.
Administration costs for the federal plan were estimated based on average provincial costs for similar programs, but the Parliamentary Budget Officer says federal costs could be higher, depending on the exact terms of the plan.
While it works out the permanent plan, the government last year created a temporary, cash benefit for uninsured children below the $90,0000 household income limit. More than 300,000 children have since been entitled to partial reimbursement of their dental care costs.
According to Minister Duclos, these figures prove that federal coverage was necessary.