Editorials
July 11, 2007 08:01 PM
Should York Region be providing free dental care to low-income seniors, paid for by Queen’s Park? That’s a question worth chewing on with word of a proposed $500,000 pilot project to pay for drillings, fillings and pullings for seniors in York.
It is a virtuous idea. We may view modern seniors as well-to-do, with mortgages paid and fat RSPs, but that’s not always the case. Figures suggest there are 8,000 low-income seniors in the region. They are at a time in their lives when problems with their teeth can be severe.
The region has run a dental program for low-income children for 15 years. It could establish a similar program for seniors with fewer start-up glitches and administrative costs, proponents say.
But is this the type of service regional government is there to provide?
Our country is built on the idea different levels of government have different responsibilities. The responsibility for health care falls to the province.
Nevertheless it is lower levels of government that have stepped in to fill the cavity in an area where they see a need.
Ottawa, Toronto and Halton Region, already offer dental care for low-income seniors.
Those programs are funded through municipal governments.
York Region’s project would be funded by the province and could serve as a model for all of Ontario, local officials say.
Said Regional Councillor Joyce Frustaglio: “It’s a way to recognize the need to keep our population healthy at any age.”
While Ms Frustaglio’s heart is in the right place, she is also offering to expand her government’s domain into health care in an even bigger way, no matter which taxpayer is paying for it.
Will regional taxpayers someday foot the bill for the tooth-care program if there are provincial cutbacks? Also, if the service cannot be provided to all seniors in Ontario, would it be fair for Queen’s Park to only help seniors in York, even in a pilot project?
If there is, indeed, a health care need, it is the province that should be looking to meet it with OHIP or like program (ODIP).
There was a time when toothaches and cavities were seen as painful inconveniences.
Today we realize dentists are health-care providers who contribute to our physical and mental well-being.
That is what Ms Frustaglio and officials are saying by pushing for the pilot project.
But it is something the province should have on its own agenda so it can weigh the costs and benefits and provide such a program on a universal basis.