Kevin Konnyu spent a decade navigating the health-care system before he was approved recently for financial assistance through Ontario’s disability support program.
But even though his province recognizes his disability, that’s not enough on its own to qualify him for coverage under Canada’s new national public dental insurance program.
Instead, he has to prove to Ottawa he’s disabled through several more applications.
“What more proof does the government need?” he said. “If you’re recognized in any province or in any federal program as having a disability, then I don’t know why that’s not good enough to qualify you for basic dental coverage.”
The federal government’s Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) has been gradually expanding eligibility for subsidized dental care to low- and middle-income Canadian residents who don’t have private insurance. On June 27, people with disabilities were told they could apply.
But advocates say only a fraction of people with disabilities will be covered.
A recent parliamentary budget officer report said up to 1.4 million severely disabled Canadians could be eligible for the proposed Canada Disability Benefit — a statistic advocates say indicates how many people with disabilities ought to have access to the CDCP.
The problem, advocates say, is that Ottawa is using its disability tax credit to decide whether someone qualifies for programs like the CDCP or the Canada Disability Benefit.
“The disability tax credit is increasingly becoming a gateway to social programs and it was never designed to be that,” said Michelle Hewitt, board chair for the advocacy organization Disability Without Poverty.
Administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, the tax credit provides a tax break largely to middle- and high-income earners with disabilities, and doesn’t target those most in need, she said.
“The federal government sees it as the easiest list that they can have of disabled people that are severe and very severely disabled. But it’s such a hard list to get on to,” Hewitt said.
Canadians with disabilities must qualify for the federal disability tax credit in order to qualify for the national dental care plan, but advocates say some are missing out on coverage because of the ‘burdensome application’ process.
The tax credit has low uptake, mainly because the application process is onerous, Hewitt said.
To be approved for the tax credit, a person must have their doctor fill out a 16-page medical form, even if they’ve already completed similar medical documentation for other government disability supports. Hewitt said that’s a major hurdle for people with disabilities, assuming they’re lucky enough to have a doctor in the first place.
“All governments talk about wanting to make things as barrier-free as possible for disabled people,” she said. “There are many hoops that disabled people have already jumped through.”
In response to such concerns, the federal government has promised to spend $243 million to pay doctors to fill out the medical forms required to get the tax credit.
Tax credit fairest option, health minister says
Health Minister Mark Holland said the federal government chose to use the disability tax credit to identify disabled Canadians eligible for subsidized dental care because it’s the fairest benchmark available across the country.
Holland acknowledged some people with disabilities will be overlooked.
“We freely acknowledge that it isn’t everybody, but it’s a lot of folks,” he told CBC News. “This was a good place to start.”
Conservatives say the federal dental plan is confusing — the health minister says that’s ‘rich’ coming from them, saying any ‘chaos’ around the program comes from the Tories.
Holland said many disabled Canadians who aren’t receiving the tax credit now will be covered by the CDCP next year when the program expands to cover all low- and middle-income people.
But Green Party member of Parliament Mike Morrice said the federal government is still misleading Canadians when it says people with disabilities now qualify for dental care.
“It seems like they’re putting forward some policies to have the rest of the country believe that more is being done for folks with disabilities than really is,” Morrice said.
Morrice said that while it’s good news that some people with disabilities will soon have access to subsidized dental care, the federal government has a pattern of under-delivering to the disability community.
“Expectations are overset by this government, and then not followed through on,” he said.
Konnyu agreed.
“I feel like they treat us as banked votes by promising these things which sound good,” he said. “But it’s only applies to a small fraction of the people in need.”
Navigating support programs an ‘absolute nightmare’
When asked, a Health Canada spokesperson would not say how many people with disabilities have been approved for CDCP coverage or have received subsidized dental care so far.
Konnyu said he worries that number will be low because many Canadians with disabilities won’t be able to navigate the application process for the tax credit and the dental plan.
Konnyu said his mental health and chemical sensitivity diagnosis makes trying to apply for various government programs an “absolute nightmare.”
“I’m quite anxious. I’m currently suffering migraines, cognitive impairment, brain fog, and trying to deal with daily life is hard enough,” he said.
“I can’t describe just how anxiety-inducing these processes are for people like myself.”
Konnyu said it was a relief when he began receiving some dental coverage through the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) a year and a half ago.
But last month, he said, he received a note from his dentist saying that his coverage will only continue if he applies for the federal plan and is rejected.
After CBC News inquired, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said ODSP recipients aren’t losing their dental coverage and aren’t required to apply for the CDCP.
Konnyu said he’s now trying to figure out if he has any dental coverage at all. Even the social worker he has helping him is confused, he said.
“I’m rather anxious about where this leaves me,” he said.
“There should not be the responsibility of people suffering from sometimes debilitating conditions to make it through these bureaucratic hoops.”
Do you have questions about how Canada’s new dental care plan may affect you? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.