Raise medicare fees or we're out, Quebec dentists say
25.02.2008 19:03
Health
- Source: cbc.ca
Quebec dentists are giving the province 30 days to increase the medicare fee structure or else they'll opt out of the system and stop providing free treatment to children and people on social assistance. As many as 70 per cent of members of the Quebec Association of Dental Surgeons are ready to drop out of the province's public health insurance plan because coverage is so low, said president Dr. Daniel Pelland. Dentists are barely clearing costs when they treat children under 10 and patients on social assistance, he said Monday, and they're "getting fed up, and want to have fair remuneration." Under the Rgie de l'assurance-maladie du Qubec, the province's health insurance plan, children under 10 and people receiving social assistance can have their teeth cleaned for free. Dentists end up earning about $11 an hour for treating those patients under the current fee structure, Pelland said. The association is demanding that rates increase by 35 per cent to account for rising operational costs. The Quebec government has said it is ready to offer a 24 per cent increase. About 2,300 of the association's 3,600 members are ready to pull out of the insurance program if their demands aren't met, Pelland said.
The dental surgeons' association issued a 30-day notice to members this month urging them to opt out of the medicare system. If they opt out, dentists are legally allowed to charge for care provided to children and social assistance recipients. With files from the Canadian Press
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