A growing number of states are offering dental care to low-income adults who once had to rely on charity or the emergency room to treat their tooth problems
Danielle Wilkes is seen by a dentist during a clinic visit Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Wilkes waited five years to have her teeth repaired after getting several teeth knocked out in a car wreck. She was able to receive dental care after an expansion of the state's Medicaid program. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — — For months, Carlton Clemons endured crippling pain from a rotting wisdom tooth. He couldn’t sleep, barely ate and relied on painkillers to get by.
Dr. Victor Wu, the chief medical officer for Tennessee’s Medicaid program, said he was pleased with the rollout of Medicaid dental benefits that started in January, but he acknowledges the state needs to build out its network and increase the participation rate among dentists. Hawaii, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Maryland and New Hampshire were the latest to begin or expand their dental coverage; they did so this year.
“We are focused on removing roadblocks that prevent people from getting back into the workforce, and this program does just that,” he said.budgeting $282 million for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years to cover dental procedures for more than a million recipients. Last year, Kansas gave dental access to nearly 137,000 Medicaid recipients at a cost of $3.5 million in 2022 and $1.2 million in 2023.
Dr. Heather Taylor, an assistant professor at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University, said some of Indiana’s Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental have not increased since 1998. “Offices are hesitant to go in network because there’s a lot of unknowns,” O'Neill said. “We’re still learning what the rules are and, you know, trial and error in terms of how we’re supposed to deal with a particular situation.”
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