While some Albertans become eligible for coverage under the new plan, others such as vulnerable children in care do not, Smith wrote in the letter
Alberta intends to withdraw from the federal government’s dental-care plan by 2026, Premier Danielle Smith wrote in a Tuesday letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying the national plan duplicates coverage already provided to most Albertans.
Instead, Smith said the province will negotiate an unconditional agreement for Alberta’s share of federal dental funding and use it to expand dental coverage to a greater number of low-income Albertans.
The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), launched earlier this year, was designed to provide a dental-care subsidy to Canadians who don’t have dental benefits and have an adjusted household income of less than $90,000 a year. It was borne out of the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement.
In her letter Smith writes the CDCP “unnecessarily replicates” coverage for Albertans, adding about 500,000 Albertans benefit from publicly funded dental plans.
“For Albertans, the addition of another dental plan is both complex and confusing,” Smith wrote. “Juggling two overlapping plans and struggling to understand their similarities and differences from a coverage viewpoint is challenging.”
Smith also said the government is concerned with eligibility, saying that while some Albertans become eligible for coverage under the new plan, others such as vulnerable children in care do not.
She added that health care falls under provincial jurisdiction and the new federal plan infringes on that division of responsibilities — adding that the program wasn’t developed in collaboration with provinces and territories.
“As such, Alberta intends to opt out of the federal plan and maintain its provincial programs for Albertans,” Smith wrote.
The province is seeking commensurate, unconditional funding from the federal government that amounts to its share of the program and will use it to expand coverage for low-income Albertans, she said.
Smith expects the terms allowing Alberta to opt out will be inked 2026.
More to come…