Close X
    Wednesday, November 13, 2024
    ADVT 
    National

    Seniors over 87 can apply to join federal dental plan starting next week

    Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 11 Dec, 2023 11:22 AM
    • Seniors over 87 can apply to join federal dental plan starting next week

    The federal government hopes to avoid gumming up the works of its new dental-insurance plan by gradually phasing in enrolment over the course of the next year, Health Minister Mark Holland said Monday. 

    Seniors over the age of 87 will be the first cohort to be able to apply to join a new federal dental-insurance plan. 

    It will be slowly expanded over the course of 2024 to include all qualifying seniors, children under the age of 18 and people with disabilities.

    Holland announced the rollout of the program, which is currently budgeted to cost $13 billion over the next five years, at a news conference at a dental clinic at Algonquin College in Ottawa. 

    The program is aimed at people with an annual household income under $90,000 who don't have access to private insurance.

    "Far too many people have avoided getting the care that they need simply because it was too expensive, and that’s why this plan is essential," Holland said. As many as nine million Canadians lack private coverage, he added.

    There has been "enormous additional cost" to the health system — to say nothing of a person's own dignity — when people have to wait until their oral health is so dire that they have to get treatment at the emergency room, Holland said.

    "We know we can do better."

    Coverage will include preventive, diagnostic, restorative and surgical services — including X-rays, fillings, root canal treatments and dentures, among others, he said. 

    Once eligibility is expanded to all qualifying Canadian residents in 2025, it will be the government's largest social program. 

    "This is a proud moment, I think for all Canadians, in expanding what is the definition of health care in Canada," said Holland.

    The insurance plan is a key pillar in the Liberal's supply-and-confidence deal with the New Democrats to secure the opposition party's support on key votes. 

    The NDP lauded the news in a statement Monday, styling the plan as "the NDP national dental care program." 

     

    Prev Next

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Home sales to dip in BC over the next year

    Home sales to dip in BC over the next year
    The B-C Real Estate Association says "the anchor that is (Canada's) monetary policy" will continue to weigh down home sales in this province over the next year. The association has released its fourth-quarter housing forecast showing residential sales are expected to dip nearly five per cent to just under 77-thousand units this year.

    Home sales to dip in BC over the next year

    Guilty plea in Chinatown stabbings

    Guilty plea in Chinatown stabbings
    A 44-year-old Vancouver man has pleaded guilty to two separate, unprovoked stabbings that happened in -- or near -- the city's Chinatown neighbourhood in September of last year.  In one stabbing, a cyclist working as a food delivery driver had his throat slashed but survived, while police say the other victim suffered "life-altering" injuries.

    Guilty plea in Chinatown stabbings

    Avian flu at Chilliwack poultry

    Avian flu at Chilliwack poultry
    Avian flu has been detected in birds at a second commercial poultry operation in Chilliwack. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the infection was confirmed yesterday -- four days after another farm was quarantined and its flock was ordered destroyed to halt the spread of the highly infectious illness.

    Avian flu at Chilliwack poultry

    Rules were followed in alleged Islamophobic incident involving U.K. MP: Air Canada

    Rules were followed in alleged Islamophobic incident involving U.K. MP: Air Canada
    Air Canada says its staff followed procedure when it delayed a British MP for extra questions in what has been described as an Islamophobic incident during a recent diplomatic trip to Canada. Mohammad Yasin was pulled aside for questioning at London’s Heathrow Airport while other lawmakers he was travelling with were allowed through, and was stopped again at airports in Montreal and Toronto.

    Rules were followed in alleged Islamophobic incident involving U.K. MP: Air Canada

    Food Banks Canada report paints dire picture of Canada-wide affordability crisis

    Food Banks Canada report paints dire picture of Canada-wide affordability crisis
    There are many heartbreaking tales behind the record number of Canadians using food banks as they struggle with high inflation and mounting housing costs, says a Vancouver food bank executive. More and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past, Boulter said, as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs.  

    Food Banks Canada report paints dire picture of Canada-wide affordability crisis

    B.C. moves up zero-emission vehicle target, with 100-per-cent sales goal by 2035

    B.C. moves up zero-emission vehicle target, with 100-per-cent sales goal by 2035
    The British Columbia government is taking steps to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles to meet its 100-per-cent sales target five years sooner than initially planned. If passed, the legislation to amend the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act would increase access and choice for electric vehicle buyers, as new provincial funding expands the charging network, a statement from the Energy Ministry said.

    B.C. moves up zero-emission vehicle target, with 100-per-cent sales goal by 2035

    PrevNext