Plan provides up to $1,300 in yearly benefits
Up to 8,000 Yukoners without dental coverage will now be able to access benefits through a new Yukon government dental plan.
Up to 8,000 Yukoners without dental coverage will now be able to access benefits through a new Yukon government dental plan.
The Yukon Dental Program laun-ched today, according to the Depart-ment of Health and Social Services.
It provides $1,300 a year in benefits to Yukoners without dental coverage.
Successful applicants for the new program, the department said in a statement this morning, will get coverage for dental care to relieve pain and infection, prevent disease and treat cavities, among some other treatments.
Preventative care, like routine dental cleaning, will also be covered.
The government is committing $1.8 million toward the program for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Eligibility will be based on an applicant’s gross income, the release says.
An individual must make $60,000 or less annually; individuals with two children must make $90,000 or less, and the threshold will increase with family size.
Applicants will also need to be registered in the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan and not be eligible for any dental coverage under other programs or plans.
“Dental care should be accessible to all Yukoners, and the new Yukon Dental Program will improve the lives of many Yukoners by providing them with the care they need when they need it,” said Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee.
“This program will help close a gap in service, and is an example of our deep commitment to improving health outcomes and reducing inequities. Thank you to all dental care providers for delivering high quality services to Yukoners, and I look forward to the integration of this new program as it takes us another step forward in our journey to transform health services for Yukoners and implement the Putting People First report.”
The new dental program has been a long time coming. A dental plan for low-income Yukoners without coverage was recommended in the 2020 Putting People First report, a comprehensive review of the territory’s health and social programs.
The NDP then pushed to include that recommendation as one of the policy initiatives in the April 2021 Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) between the third party and the Liberal government.
“We’re excited to see this program finally roll out,” said NDP Leader Kate White.
“The NDP has always believed that dental care is health care — and it should be accessible for everyone.
“We’ve supported Yukoners from all walks of life to be able to access the dental care they’ve needed, and it’s due in large part to the tenacity of these folks that this program is now in place,” White added.
“We thank them for not only advocating for themselves, but for everyone. Now, thousands of Yukoners will have the coverage they need for basic healthcare.”
Last summer, a progress report on the CASA said the dental program would roll out in December.
In November, during question period in the legislature’s fall sitting, McPhee was asked when the dental program would be ready to take applicants. She said the goal posts had moved to January.
The CASA will expire Jan. 31. White was critical of the government for taking until the end of the agreement to fulfill policy obligations like a low-income dental program.
Today’s release says Yukoners eligible for the Pharmacare and Extended Health Care Benefits programs, and who apply and meet the income threshold, could receive a top-up of $600 each year.
It also says children are eligible for the program if they are not eligible for the Yukon Children’s Dental Program and their caregivers meet the income threshold.
The new program will be administered by Pacific Blue Cross, a third-party insurance company; McPhee had announced this back in November.
Eligible Yukoners will have to apply annually to receive benefits under the program.
Coverage will end on June 30 each year.
Potential applicants can visit Yukon.ca/dentalprogram to learn more.
Yukoners can also email dentalprogram@yukon.ca or phone 667-5209.
Applicants will need to provide proof of income through either a Notice of Assessment from Revenue Canada or a letter from the social assistance branch.
“This program is an important step towards universal dental care for all,” White said.
Comments (23)
Up 3 Down 4
Anie on Jan 10, 2023 at 2:34 pm
Bonanza Joe, I seriously do not remember "keeping communists out of the free world" or any similar sentiment, ever being a policy of Canada or even of our armed forces. can you elaborate?
Up 5 Down 1
Groucho d'North on Jan 10, 2023 at 10:16 am
Similar to the daycare subsidy, these programs are designed to appeal to a large portion of the voting block by providing something that is important to them at a reduced price or free of charge. All the while they are taxing the entire country into poverty. It's a math game: steal lots from everybody and give back a measured portion to a select group of voters who will hopefully be enough to win the next election. Since the 2016 election this government has worked on a divide and conquor strategy, and they are good at it.
Up 12 Down 7
bonanzajoe on Jan 6, 2023 at 5:39 pm
whygotoworkanymore on Jan 6, 2023: I still won't be voting for her. I spent 3 years in Europe serving, to keep the communists out of the free world. I guess it was "Mission non Accomplished".
Up 6 Down 7
bonanzajoe on Jan 6, 2023 at 5:36 pm
Tell JT. He will be very happy to help you on that one. He can add it on to his recent legislation of abandoning freedom of speech.
Up 18 Down 24
melba on Jan 6, 2023 at 9:51 am
How many of the people railing against this form of health care coverage for moderate to low income people not working for the government, work for the government themselves or are over 65 and therefore already have government dental benefits? Bunch of losers.
Up 26 Down 13
whygotoworkanymore on Jan 6, 2023 at 7:18 am
Thank Kate White for this. Libs sold their soul to NDP.
Up 15 Down 34
Charlie's Aunt on Jan 5, 2023 at 8:17 pm
Is there any chance that a moderator would remove posts that are nothing more than plain nasty comments and have nothing of value in them?
Up 9 Down 5
bonanzajoe on Jan 5, 2023 at 7:59 pm
@Jake on Jan 5, 2023 at 11:56 am. Up till now it was $1,400.00 every two years.
Up 16 Down 15
Matthew on Jan 5, 2023 at 7:12 pm
Hey @patti sounds like you're a single mother recieving plenty of gov benefits.. people who eat healthy and take care of themselves/ teeth don't need the dentist, shocker isn't it..
Up 61 Down 1
Anie on Jan 5, 2023 at 2:37 pm
The population of Yukon is 43000. The government says that this will benefit 8000 people. The max income to qualify is 60k single, 90k family with two children, and you must not have other dental coverage . The math does not make sense to me. I don't think 8000 residents will qualify. I'd like to see a reporter ask the government to back up this statement. I'd like to see a reporter actually ask the government anything, instead of just regurgitating press releases.
Up 35 Down 11
AdmiralA$$ on Jan 5, 2023 at 2:00 pm
"We’ve supported Yukoners from all walks of life to be able to access the dental care they’ve needed" yup this is the exact problem, consider this quote.
A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
-Gerald R. Ford
also have quoted this before but obviously we have way to many government dependent people for many to understand it properly. So I will put it back up and hope some read it and try to understand what it means.
hough the people support the government, the government should not support the people.
-Grover Cleveland
I suppose when we are all a bunch of entitled monkeys living in the arctic with 0 economic output, it is much easier to beg for our future rather then make it ourselves. " I want free health care, I want free day care, I want free dentistry, I want free power, free roads, free kids." Very few working for what they need.
Up 12 Down 25
WIlf-iper on Jan 5, 2023 at 12:36 pm
@ Patti Eyre
Juniper and Wilf will only eat just mashed potatoes out of spite. I think they are a match made in heaven.
Up 36 Down 4
Jake on Jan 5, 2023 at 11:56 am
I agree with most posts here. The dental is a bit skinny. Allow for those above the earning limit to contribute something and give them a basic plan as well. Good dental hygiene will save a lot in health care costs. Believe almost forty percent of health issues can be attributed to it. My rant for the day is this, too many on the dole. Every where you look people able to work have found a free ride post pandemic as the feds refuse to rein it in. Know in the community I live in is full of for lack of a better word lazy people who have found a scam to stay on the system. I would vote for anyone who promises to put them through a strict review process.
Up 14 Down 16
Patti Eyre on Jan 5, 2023 at 8:37 am
@matthew: me and my girls are "most people" and we don't eat crap. speak for yourself!
Up 5 Down 8
yah! klunk on Jan 5, 2023 at 7:33 am
Won't take long for the fang docs to hoover this one up but that's ok. They've been feelin the plague for some time now; it's their turn I would say...
Up 51 Down 15
No benefit at all on Jan 4, 2023 at 8:57 pm
Again I’m being punished for getting up every day and going to work. Love this society we live in.
Up 28 Down 11
Max Mack on Jan 4, 2023 at 4:57 pm
"An individual must make $60,000 or less annually; individuals with two children must make $90,000 or less, and the threshold will increase with family size."
Let's take the "worst" case covered by this policy. Assuming a 20% tax rate, $1,500 annually for free dental care is equivalent to pre-tax income of about $7,500, or about $60,000 + $7,500 = $67,500 total.
Meanwhile, the poor sucker that earns $1 more than the $60,000 cut-off gets NOTHING. The poor sucker earning $60,001 is now orders of magnitude worse off than the individual earning $60,000. The sucker earning $60,001 will have to work an additional 250 hours to make up the difference to pay for his own dental.
How is this fair? How does this ensure equitable access to dental care for all Yukoners?
As for families, what becomes of the already FREE school dental program? Or does this gift also continue?
Up 58 Down 9
Eligibility? on Jan 4, 2023 at 3:50 pm
So if you make 61,000 a year with no benefits, you’re toast? Lol
Up 44 Down 34
Matthew on Jan 4, 2023 at 3:40 pm
This solved nothing, except keeping the poor, poor. Always bailing out the poor, meanwhile they should get a skill that's in demand, or 2 jobs.. If you want better dental health, and health overall, look at your diet.. most poor people eat crap, literally. Foods that are "enriched", "modified" and full of sugars, ALL of which are bad for your health and teeth. We need a proper nutrition program training course, teach people how to read the ingredients. But of course, no money in healthy people.
Up 51 Down 19
Yukoner1 on Jan 4, 2023 at 2:54 pm
Wow. A promise for universal dental care for everyone turns into $1300 per year maximum (which won't even cover a single root canal) and pretty much excludes anyone who's not at minimum wage level. What a great accomplishment! (sarcasm should be inserted on that last part)
Up 50 Down 15
John on Jan 4, 2023 at 2:53 pm
It is about cradle to grave social assistance.
All of this kind of reminds me of Nero fiddling away while Rome burned. This crowd tosses money around like confetti. Perhaps we should, after all doesn't it grow on trees?
Never ceases to amaze me why we are doing this when the feds just announced they were doing the same. Isn't this called double dipping??
Up 18 Down 50
Patti Eyre on Jan 4, 2023 at 2:25 pm
Looks like Juniper and Wilf won't have to keep eating only mashed potatoes, another post christmas miracle!
Up 24 Down 53
This Is The Way on Jan 4, 2023 at 2:21 pm
A rare moment of good governance here in the territory. A new program which ensures ALL PEOPLE a better standard of living while plugging gaps in our flawed system for those left out up to now. This is what politicians are supposed to be working on. Let’s keep on this track for 2023, please.