• Canada Dental Care Plan working but costing more than expected: auditor general

  Source: CBC Politics
  Date: 2026-10-29 14:50:35.0
  Tags: [National, Healthcare, Affordability, Finance, Social Services]

  A report by Auditor General Karen Hogan found that Health Canada's Canadian Dental Care Plan exceeded its initial budget commitments by $1.1 billion during the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years, with an anticipated further shortfall of $2.4 billion by 2032 due to higher-than-anticipated claim payments per member. While the program successfully reduced average household out-of-pocket dental expenses from $536 in 2023 to $264 for users, the audit revealed persistent public confusion, with 560,000 members (16 per cent of those accessing services in 2025) receiving full coverage, while dental providers spent roughly an hour a day addressing coverage ambiguities and call centres struggled to meet quality metrics. In response, Health Canada engaged the Office of the Chief Actuary to provide quarterly actuarial forecasts to improve claim payment projections and financial planning.

  Read Original

• How does P.E.I. decide which drugs to cover? It’s more complicated than you might think

  Source: Prince Edward Island - Regional News
  Date: 2026-10-10 09:00:00.0
  Tags: [Prince Edward Island, National, Healthcare, Affordability, Finance]

  The federal government has renewed the Improving Affordable Access to Prescription Drugs program (IAAPD) for Prince Edward Island with $32 million in funding over three years. The program, which launched as a pilot in 2021, has helped add more than 100 medications to P.E.I.'s public formulary and lowered patient co-payments to $5 for many eligible drugs. In addition to the IAAPD, P.E.I. participates in the federal pharmacare program covering specific diabetes medications, supplies, and contraceptives. The multi-step drug coverage process involves Health Canada authorization, price reviews by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, cost-effectiveness evaluations by Canada's Drug Agency, collective price bargaining by the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, and final provincial formulary decisions.

  Read Original

• Cost of living, ‘opioid crisis’ paramount for opposition MLAs as Yukon legislature returns

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-10-02 11:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, Governance, Healthcare, Affordability, Energy, Mining]

  As the Yukon Legislative Assembly begins its fall sitting, opposition leaders Kate White of the NDP and interim Liberal leader Debra-Leigh Reti are pressing Premier Currie Dixon's majority government on the rising cost of living, regional healthcare gaps, and the territory's opioid crisis. Premier Dixon is seeking federal intervention to raise the Yukon's debt cap from $1.2 billion to $3 billion to fund major energy and health projects. Additionally, the territorial government reported that 52 out of 56 recommendations from the Independent Review Board following the 2024 Eagle gold mine heap leach disaster have been implemented, with the remaining four slated for completion by spring.

  Read Original