Question Period Note: DENTAL CARE

What is the Government of Canada doing to address the unmet dental care needs of Canadians?

• The Government of Canada is committed to working collaboratively with the provinces and territories to strengthen health care.

• Many Canadians have coverage for dental care through employee health benefit plans or through federal, provincial, and territorial dental programs.

• But we know there remains unmet needs for dental care in Canada.

• My mandate letter includes a commitment to support Parliament in this work, so that we can better understand what the Government’s role may be in helping to improve access to dental care in Canada.

• Dental care is only one aspect of improving the health care of Canadians. Our Government is also committed to improving access to primary care, mental health services, home and palliative care, and implementing national universal pharmacare for Canadians.

Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Report on the New Democratic Party’s dental care proposal
In February 2020, the PBO received a request based on a motion from Mr.
Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) to estimate the cost of establishing a
federal dental care program for uninsured Canadians with a total household
income below $90,000. The program is expected to start on January 1, 2021.

After accounting for beneficiaries’ contributions, PBO estimates that ongoing
program costs for the federal government would average $1.5 billion
through to 2024-25. Furthermore, due to currently unmet dental care needs,
the federal government would face a one-time upfront cost of around $3 billion
mostly to cover the treatment cost of untreated caries in the eligible
population.

The PBO estimated that close to 6.5 million Canadians would benefit from the
proposed program during the first year. The number of beneficiaries is
expected to decrease to 6.3 million by 2025 due to changes in population
age distribution and an improvement of labour market conditions.

Dental Care in Canada
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, $15.5 billion was spent on dental services in 2017: 54% was covered through private insurance ($8.4 billion); 40% was paid out-of-pocket ($6.2 billion); and 6% was publicly funded ($933 million).

The majority of Canadians receive dental coverage through employment-based private health insurance plans, which cover about two-thirds of Canadians.

Good data does not exist on unmet dental care needs at a national level in Canada. A group of non-government health organizations, led by the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry, is coordinating an email campaign seeking input from health professionals on the Government’s commitment to support Parliamentary study of national dental care. The campaign suggests that 1 in 5 people (6 million Canadians) are not receiving needed dental care due to cost, and that only Canadians with financial resources or dental insurance can experience good oral health.

The federal government provides recognized First Nations and Inuit persons with dental coverage for services not available under other federal, provincial, or territorial programs. The federal government also provides dental services to Canadian Armed Forces personnel and inmates in federal penitentiaries, and provides dental coverage for RCMP members and eligible veterans, public servants and refugee claimants.

The federal government further supports Canadians with private health insurance by not including the value of these insurance plans in the taxable income of employees. In addition, the income tax system provides assistance through the Medical Expenses Tax Credit, and through a refundable medical expenses supplement available for working individuals with low incomes and high medical expenses.

PTs provide in-hospital medically necessary dental care for all residents. Additional PT programs vary in eligibility and coverage, and are limited to select services for groups such as low-income groups, people with disabilities, children and seniors.

The Canada Health Transfer is providing $40.4 billion to the provinces and territories in 2019-20. PTs can use these federal funds to support their dental programs, along with their other health services.

SYNOPSIS
The mandate letter for the Minister of Health committed the Government to work with Parliament to study the possibility of national dental care.