Canada's New Dental Care Plan Will Cover Uninsured Canadians & It's Expected To Start Soon
Jagmeet Singh is calling this "a victory for you and your family."
Person receiving dental care. Right: Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Canada is set to get a new dental care program that will give coverage to uninsured Canadians and it's supposed to start soon.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government laid out its plan to ensure that more Canadians have dental coverage because "nobody should have to choose between taking care of their teeth and being able to pay the bills at the end of the month."
In the dental care section of the budget, the federal government shared that it is moving forward with a "transformative investment" that with help provide care to Canadians who need it.
The government is planning to provide Health Canada with $13 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24, and $4.4 billion ongoing to implement the new Canadian Dental Care Plan.
With this plan, dental coverage will be provided to uninsured Canadians who have an annual family income of less than $90,000.
Also, there will be no co-pays for people who have family incomes that are under $70,000 a year.
The federal government said that the Canadian Dental Care Plan is set to begin providing coverage by the end of 2023.
It will be administered by Health Canada and have support from a third-party benefits administrator.
Details on eligible coverage will be released by the government later in the year.
After the 2023 federal budget was released, Jagmeet Singh celebrated the dental care development and other initiatives from the federal government that are meant to cut costs for Canadians.
"I promised I'd fight for you," the NDP leader tweeted. "We secured a victory for you and your family by forcing Justin Trudeau's hand. Up to $1,700 to help cover dental care and groceries. They're feeling the pressure — let's keep it going. I won't back down."
Dental care was one of the action items brought forward by Singh when the Liberals and NDP entered into a supply and confidence agreement that would see Trudeau's minority government stay in power until 2025.
The Canadian Dental Care Plan builds on the Canada Dental Benefit which provides eligible parents or guardians with direct, upfront and tax-free payments for children under 12 years old.
Those payments for covering the cost of dental care for their children are up to $1,300 per child over two years.
According to the federal government, the Canada Dental Benefit has helped more than 240,000 children receive dental care so far.
@narcitytoronto The federal government introduced new benefits that could put some back into your wallet as part of the 2023 budget. Among the new items this year is a one-time grocery rebate, a 'Tax-Free First Home Savings Account' and an increase to the interest-free student loan limit. #canada #canadanews #federalbudget #canadamoney #inflation
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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