Health Minister Mark Holland recently told CityNews that dental professionals no longer have to sign up for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) in order to participate.
Originally, dentists and independent hygienists had to sign up for the plan through the Sun Life portal that launched in March, which caused much concern. Dentists did not feel they had enough information to be willing to go through this process and they found it to be too much administrative work, compared to other programs that take minimal admin capacity.
“We’re gonna make it so easy to participate,” said Holland. “All you have to do is have somebody walk in, show their card, and a dentist can try it once and see how they like it, see how it works for them. We’re making it so that it’s as simple as any other insurance plan.”
The health minister’s office also responded to the criticism regarding the CDCP fee guides being considerably less than the provincial guides. They clarified that fee guides are just guides and dental professionals can charge more or less. With the CDCP fee guides, they took into consideration fair compensation for practitioners and “the need to be fiscally responsible.”
