The following letter was addressed to MLA Nicholas Simons and shared with the Coast Reporter:
Dear Mr. Simons,
The BC Schizophrenia Society Sunshine Coast Branch advocates on behalf of people with serious mental illness. Most depend on provincial disability benefits, which are often inadequate to cover monthly expenses, much less pay for costly dental procedures. For many years dental payments for those on disability assistance were based on the BC Dental Association’s current fee guide. This ended with the previous BC Liberal government, which froze rates sometime after taking office in 2001. Sadly, your government has done nothing to reverse this practice.
The only way for most people on disability assistance to afford dental care is if they have family willing and able to cover the co-pay. We believe that people with disabilities deserve adult autonomy. A point of pride for your government has been the commitment to treat the most vulnerable among us with dignity and respect. This is a chance to put that commitment into practice.
An earlier communication from your office suggested that people on disability assistance can seek dental care in low-cost clinics. This is frankly disingenuous. There are only nine such clinics in all of British Columbia, none in our community. Furthermore, the number of dentists willing to treat patients on disability assistance is shrinking — no surprise given that your ministry offers them co-payments as much as 40 per cent below the Dental Association’s current fee schedule. Untreated dental conditions can lead to a range of serious health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, and complications in pregnancy and childbirth. If people with mental illness and other disabilities are not provided with proper dental care now, many will eventually require medical intervention. To allow this situation to continue at a time when our hospital system is stretched to the breaking point is short-sighted and irresponsible.
Donna Motzer
President, BC Schizophrenia Society
Sunshine Coast Branch
