The Alberta Government and the Alberta Dental Association and College announced a new optional dental fee guide on Wednesday in a bid to help lower-income households and seniors afford dental care. But one St. Albert dentist said that the fee guide isn’t helping anyone. “People are still paying the same on premiums, the only one who’s winning are the insurance companies,” said Dr. Frank Neves, dentist at Bright Dental. The revised dental fee guide reduces fees by 8.5 per cent on most common dental procedures when compared to 2016 rates. Dentists can decide whether they want to follow the guide and will set their own prices. Additionally, insurance companies will set their own coverage rates. In September the Alberta Dental Association and College unveiled the first dental fee guide, which insurance companies Alberta Blue Cross, Sun Life Financial and Great-West Life Assurance Company agreed to follow. Neves said when the first guide was announced the insurance companies dropped their coverage prices but charged the same premiums. Dental procedures ended up costing the insurance companies less money, but patients were still paying the same amount in monthly premiums. “All this did was make the insurance companies make more money,” he said. Brian Geislinger, media relations for Alberta Blue Cross, said some of their plans followed the first dental fee guide. They did not reduce their premiums. “Plan premiums may or may not decrease based on fee guides,” he said, adding that the company takes other factors into consideration. Alberta hasn’t had a dental fee guide in 20 years. A 2016 review found that Alberta had the highest dental fees in Canada. Geislinger said reducing prices by 8.5 per cent is a good start, but it’s still not enough. “We would like to see additional measures for reform, of which includes mandating more open pricing and advertising, which would support consumer choice and foster competition,” he said. Geislinger couldn’t say whether the Alberta Blue Cross would adopt the latest fee guide in the new year, or if it would be lowering its premiums. Gannon Loftus, director of communications at Sun Life Financial, said the insurance company would be adopting the new 2018 fee guide. He did not specify whether they would be dropping their premiums. The first dental fee guide released in September reduced fees by three per cent. Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said the guide didn’t go far enough to help reduce patients’ costs. The new revised dental fee guide suggests new prices for 60 different procedures and will take effect Jan. 1. Under the new guide, consumers will have access to a list of procedures, costs and codes. It encourages patients to shop around to find the best price. While Neves agrees with increasing transparency, he said it’s counter-intuitive if the insurance companies don’t also jump on board. Neves said the guide would make dentists more competitive as they vie for new patients, one positive outcome of the new guide. “I think that competition is good,” he said. “There might be a more discerning clientele that’ll say for the same amount of money we’ll go see someone else. If you’re a very good practitioner and you pay attention to the details, it might set you aside.” While competition is a good thing, Neves said it could lead patients to seek out the cheapest dentist rather than the best one.
