COLUMN: Think Again – The right to be on a waiting list

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/04/2024 (462 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the most trumpeted “achievements” of the current Liberal/NDP coalition is the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh proudly call it universal dentalcare.

However, there is nothing universal about it, as those who signed up will find out next month.

For starters, the plan only covers seniors below a certain income level who don’t have access to their own dental plan. Thus, anyone currently paying for private insurance is ineligible for this plan, even if their premiums have become unaffordable.

In addition, the CDCP covers only some treatments and doesn’t even pay their full cost. While dentists are encouraged to waive the balance so that patients don’t need to pay, there’s no guarantee that this will happen.

Even more concerningly, many dentists are not signing up, partially because of the government’s inadequate payment schedule, but also because the CDCP requires dentists to agree to a bunch of terms and conditions that aren’t required from any other insurance plan.

Specifically, dentists who enroll in the CDCP must agree to give the company administering the plan the power to claw back funds directly from the dentist’s bank account if it is deemed necessary. This is a totally unwarranted intrusion in the lives of dentists and it’s not surprising that many dentists are balking at this requirement.

Add to this the fact that many dentists, particularly in growing regions such as ours, are already operating at capacity. Simply put, they have plenty of patients right now and do not need to sign up for the CDCP to have enough patients to fill each day. It’s important to remember that dental clinics are well-established in Canada and that many Canadians already have adequate dental coverage through their work.

Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised that a program rolled out because of an unholy alliance between the Liberals and NDP is running into significant obstacles. Government programs are often inefficient at the best of times and become downright chaotic when slapped together at the last minute to appease an opposition party in the House of Commons.

In short, what we have is not a universal dental care program. Rather, the government is guaranteeing everyone the right to be on a waiting list. Anyone who thinks this plan is going to make it easier to access dental treatment is in for a rude shock next month when they try to find a dentist willing to provide treatment under the terms of the CDCP.

This is far from the only time the federal government tried to fix a problem but ended up making it worse. For example, the Liberals have loudly trumpeted their “$10 a day” national daycare program. Sadly, this has turned into a total disaster as many daycare providers quickly discovered that this program was financially unworkable for them. Far from solving the problem, the shortage of daycare spaces became more acute in many provinces. Frustrated parents found out that they had the right to be on a waiting list, but not much else.

The recent deal between the Liberals and NDP to create a so-called national pharmacare program should also be cause for concern. Given the government’s disastrous track record on other files, we can only imagine what will happen when Canadians try to get their prescriptions filled using this new program. It will not surprise me at all if Canadians end up finding it harder, rather than easier, to access their medications.

The right to be on a waiting list isn’t good enough. Our government must stop making things worse.

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and a Steinbach city councillor. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.