More than half of Canadians skipping health care such as dental, survey suggests

As the Canadian Dental Care Plan expands this week to include all eligible age groups, 35 per cent of Canadians report they've skipped or reduced dental visits, a new survey suggests. Dental care was the most commonly delayed health service, according to the survey released Tuesday.

The Canadian digital insurance company PolicyMe carried out the online survey of 1,500 adults in partnership with the Angus Reid Institute from May 9-12.

More than half of Canadians (56 per cent) said they're delaying health appointments due to costs, with some skipping appointments.

"They're skipping as a result of cost," said Andrew Ostro, CEO and co-founder of PolicyMe in Toronto.

Young adults aged 18 to 34 were the most affected of respondents, according to the survey, with 66 per cent saying they were delaying health care compared with 58 per cent among those aged 35 to 54.

WATCH | Canada's dental care coverage rolls out:

The first phase of the Canadian Dental Care Plan began on May 1, providing coverage to nearly two million seniors aged 70 and older.

Dr. Paul Allison, a professor at McGill University's dental faculty, said since younger adults as a group tend to be healthier than older adults, health generally, as well as oral health care, may not be as high on their list of priorities as older adults.

About 47 per cent of Canadians aged 55 or older in the survey said they also delayed health care.

Verlaj Bains, 27, of Toronto, can relate to the survey's findings. About 18 months ago, he started to have sensitivity in his lower teeth when drinking cold beverages. He had some dental coverage at the time and went for an assessment.

"They had to do the full tooth replacement and it would have been like $3,000," Bains said. "I did not have that money."

In Canada, employer coverage makes up the bulk of the way people are insured, Ostro said.

About 60 per cent of all private dental care expenditures in 2015 originated from private insurance sources, while the rest was paid for out of pocket, according to the Canadian Dental Association.

Out-of-pocket costs include co-pays where insurance companies pay from 50 per cent to 90 per cent, deductibles on the first few hundred dollars worth of services that patients need to cover and gaps in what companies reimburse, Ostro said.

In terms of generations in the survey, 20 per cent of Gen Zers and 21 per cent of baby boomers said they're uninsured, suggesting that both instability early in careers as well as retirement gaps leave people unprotected, PolicyMe said. Among Canadians aged 55 and older, 21 per cent reported having no health or dental coverage.

At the same time, Gen Z is aging out of parental plans and entering a workforce that often lacks traditional benefits.

Dr. Carlos Quiñonez, a dental professor at Western University, said the increase in gig work could also be contributing to people stalling on seeking health care.

"We end up treating a lot of people that experience financial difficulties in accessing care, and that's why they come to dental schools to access low-cost care," said Quiñonez, who previously tapped into funding from another insurer, Green Shield Canada, to establish a free dental clinic at the University of Toronto.

For Bains, cost is the main issue. The kinesiology student said he's definitely interested in the federal dental care plan, given his lingering sensitivity.

"There's no pain, but it could be worse, so I definitely need to get on it."

As of this week, all remaining adults in Canada aged 18 to 64 are eligible for public coverage through the national Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), if they're not covered through another plan, such as employment or retiree benefits, a family member's or a provincial plan.

The federal government said it expects the plan to make the cost of dental care more affordable for up to nine million Canadian residents, and four million have been approved so far. In the new survey, about 11 per cent of Canadians reported relying on the CDCP so far.

"There were a lot of people in the middle income groups who probably don't qualify for the CDCP, but still find it quite difficult to pay for dental care," Allison said.

Beyond cost, there are also problems in terms of time and geographic access to dental care, Allison said.

Criteria to qualify for CDCP include that you and your spouse/common-law-partner (if applicable) must have filed your tax returns in Canada and your adjusted family net income needs to be less than $90,000.

More broadly in the survey, about 36 per cent of Canadians said they're concerned their employer-provided insurance coverage could be reduced or eliminated amid ongoing economic instability, with concern the highest in B.C.

While 71 per cent of uninsured Canadians report cutting back on care, even 52 per cent of insured Canadians say they've delayed or missed appointments for financial reasons.