Liberals running out of time to deliver youth dental care pledge as costs soar
Global News
A pledge to deliver a dental program for uninsured kids by the end of this year is a key part of the government's deal with the NDP to stave off an election until 2025.
The clock is ticking for the government to deliver on its ambitious promise to the New Democrats to deliver a dental care program for low- and middle-income uninsured kids by the end of the year, while cost estimates have nearly doubled.
The pledge is a key element of the Liberal government’s deal with the NDP to stave off an election until 2025. The Liberals promised to provide coverage by the end of the year for children living in a household with an income of less than $90,000, expanding next year it to include under 18-year olds, seniors and persons living with a disability.
The plan is to fully implement the program by 2025.
The government has just over six months to launch a completely new program, but still appears to be in the consultation phase of the planning and hasn’t settled on the most basic question: what form will this program take?
One option is for the program to be delivered as a federal transfer to provinces, who would either administer it alongside existing dental programs and amalgamate them together.
But the NDP have always pitched the program as a stand-alone federal dental insurance plan, administered by federal staff to fill the gaps in the patchwork of provincial and private programs across the country.
A third option to contract the program out to a private company is also on the table, according to several stakeholder groups who’ve been in talks with government officials but aren’t able to speak publicly.
Each available path has its own pitfalls and would likely take more than six months to traverse, and it’s not clear what concessions the NDP are willing to accept to get a federal dental-care program in place.
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