Provinces with dental benefits for kids got smaller share of federal plan
Global News
Data shows that provinces and territories with dental benefits for all children were given less federal money per population than those that offer only targeted coverage.
Provinces that already cover dental-care services for children have been given a smaller share of federal dollars from the Canada Dental Benefit, further driving concerns that governments will end that coverage as the federal program expands.
Data provided to Parliament shows that provinces and territories with dental benefits for all children were given less federal money per population than those that offer only targeted coverage.
The federal dental benefit was launched last fall and is designed to provide cash payments to low- and middle-income families without private insurance. Children qualify for $260, $390 or $650, depending on their family income.
Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Yukon all cover at least basic dental care for children _ and received less funding than the national average.
The data may confirm the program is working as intended to fill gaps in coverage, but the Bloc Quebecois says the results reveal an “injustice.”
“We have a situation where those provinces who have higher taxes, whose citizens contribute more to their own dental plans, they’re in a situation where they are less covered by the federal program and in which they subsidize the dental program in other provinces,” said Bloc MP Jean-Denis Garon.
He said the federal program is a “strong deterrent” for provinces to launch progressive programs.
The only other provinces to fall below the national average were British Columbia and New Brunswick.
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