Health Canada clarifies eligibility for seniors under national dental care plan
CBC
The federal government has posted updated information online on who is eligible for Canada's national dental care plan.
The additional details come after seniors raised concerns about whether their existing private dental insurance plans disqualified them from the public plan.
A spokesperson for Health Canada told CBC News that people who purchased private dental insurance plans on their own will qualify for the national program — but only after their existing private policies are no longer in effect.
Those with access to private dental coverage through their work or professional organizations remain ineligible for the Canadian Dental Care Plan. They're ineligible even if they decided to opt out of their private insurance, haven't made a claim, or have to pay a premium, the website says.
Ottawa has now added an exception for retirees who decided not to sign up for private dental insurance offered through their pension plans. If they opted out of those dental plans before Dec. 11, 2023, and aren't allowed to opt back in, they qualify for the national program.
A spokesperson for Health Canada told CBC News its website was updated Monday.
Health Minister Mark Holland said his department looked at situations where retirees had chosen to opt out of their pension dental plans before the national program was announced.
"[That] put a few people in limbo, where there was a question mark about whether or not they were going to get their coverage. We've said no, that's fair. That person should be able to get the coverage," Holland said Tuesday during a funding announcement in Iqaluit.
The $13 billion Canadian Dental Care Plan is expected eventually to cover an estimated nine million low and middle income Canadians who don't have private dental insurance.
"This is really about filling in the gaps, making sure that everybody gets coverage, as opposed to displacing existing plans," Holland said Tuesday.
Ottawa has been sending letters to eligible individuals inviting them to apply, starting with the oldest first. In March, eligibility opened to seniors aged 70 and older. Coverage is set to begin in May. The program is expected to be open to all eligible applicants by 2025.
More than 1 million Canadians have signed up for the plan, Citizen's Services Minister Terry Beech said during question period last week.
In order to qualify, applicants must have no access to private dental insurance and family incomes of less than $90,000 a year. They also must have filed a tax return and be Canadian residents.
Dental associations have recommended seniors not opt out of or cancel any existing dental care insurance until Ottawa provides more details on who and what is covered.
A single northbound lane on the long-awaited Pattullo Bridge replacement has opened to traffic, marking the first step in a phased opening process.
The Yukon has been grappling with an extreme cold weather system that's pushing the power grid to the brink because it can't keep up with demand.
The days leading up to Christmas day can be the most stressful time of the holidays. Especially if those days are spent travelling to the post office hoping to pick up that special, last minute gift you ordered online, just in time to put it under the tree.
The Yukon's energy provider says Whitehorse is not at imminent risk of blackouts, but with very cold weather forecasted through the holidays, residents are still being asked to conserve power.
A pedestrian is dead after a vehicle crashed into a building in Toronto, said police.
RCMP in Inuvik, N.W.T., say two youth have been arrested after officers found suspected cocaine and a loaded firearm at a home in the community.
Canada and 13 other countries issued a joint statement Wednesday condemning the Israeli security cabinet's approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Alberta health officials are flagging the circulation of a rare bacteria known as Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) among homeless adults living in Calgary.
The future of a prominent building in London's Old East Village (OEV), once home to the London Food Incubator, is looking uncertain following the relocation of its anchor tenant and the planned departure of another.
As Yukon continues to deal with a prolonged spell of extreme cold, emergency officials are advising people to be prepared in case of a power outage.
Police say they have found and arrested 47-year-old Douglas Yetman, a man wanted for murder.
Confirmed flu cases in northeastern Ontario are much higher now than they were at the same period last year.
The organization that represents some of America's largest spirits producers is calling for the NSLC to remove a policy that gives preferential markup to Nova Scotian spirit products.