Sarnia mom Jordan Dottori: NDP dental plan will help my family

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath continued a swing through southwestern Ontario on Thursday, spending time in Sarnia to speak with local mom Jordan Dottori about how the NDP dental care plan will help her family.
“Jordan is a mom, she's in school and working hard to build a good life for herself and her five-year-old son – but she needs some help to do that,” said Horwath. “For too long people like Jordan have been left to fend for themselves when it comes to getting the dental care they need. It shouldn't be this way, and it doesn’t have to be this way. We can have dental coverage for everyone in Ontario, we can have change for the better for families like Jordan’s.”
Dottori attends Lambton College where she is training to be a social worker. She has $500 in dental coverage, per year, through the school that has to cover both her and her son. Just last week she was diagnosed with an abscessed tooth and was told she needs a root canal – a procedure that costs about $1,200.
“I don’t know what I am going to do,” Dottori said. “I’ve leaned on my dad in the past for help with dental care, but I feel bad going back to him over and over again – he has bills he needs to pay himself. My mom - who has worked her whole life as a PSW - has numerous dental issues because she can’t afford to go to the dentist either. Andrea’s plan will really help my whole family.”
Health care that Ontario families can count on is a top priority for Horwath. She has promised to fix the overcrowding and hallway medicine crisis in Ontario’s hospitals and her Dental Care for Everyone plan will publicly fund dental coverage for millions of people, including those on social assistance and seniors who don’t have retirement benefits. It will also create a minimum standard for dental plans that will apply to all employers -- and cover all workers, including part-time and contract workers -- which can be fulfilled through a new publicly administered and affordable Ontario Benefits option, or any comparable benefits plan. Horwath has also released a Pharmacare for Everyone plan -- a universal prescription drug plan that covers everyone, regardless of age, income or job status.
“It’s time that we stop choosing between bad and worse – between Conservatives and Liberals who both cut the health care and public services that Ontario families need. It's time for a change for the better. For Jordan's family and all Ontarians, let's get this done.” said Horwath.