Revisions to the HUSKY Program's dental services, have been delayed as the State struggles with multiple changes to the overall health program for poor children in Connecticut.

HUSKY Dental received a $20M boost last June when the CT General Assembly and the Governor approved additional funds to increase the reimbursement rates paid for dental care.  The funding is needed to secure settlement of an eight-year-old lawsuit against the State regarding HUSKY children's inability to access oral health care.

Public statements by the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) have indicated that a preliminary lawsuit settlement agreement would result in a re-designed HUSKY dental care system that would include:

• New reimbursement rates high enough to attract many new providers,
• A 'carve-out' of dental services to be managed by a single 'Administrative Service Organization' (ASO) on a non-risk basis, that would replace the current four Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) & their three dental management subcontractors, and
  
• Implementation of the new system on July 1, 2008, one year after the funding was approved.

However, the preliminary lawsuit settlement has not been signed and the required Request for Proposals (RFP) to select the ASO has not been issued.  DSS has stated its hope that the July 1 implementation deadline will be met, but the time frame appears increasingly tight.

Unrelated changes in the current HUSKY program have complicated matters.

• Three of the four current MCOs will leave the HUSKY program March 1st due to a dispute over the release of reimbursement information,
• On March 1st only one MCO, Community Health Network (CHN) and its dental subcontractor, BeneCare, will service HUSKY patients,
• During February HUSKY patients not in CHN must switch to CHN or to the State's direct fee-for-service program managed by EDS.  Letters are scheduled to go out to patients as of this writing.  If they do not select by March 1st, DSS will assign them to CHN or EDS,
• CHN and BeneCare have indicated that they will be contacting HUSKY providers (including dentists) who are not in their plan, offering a simplified credentialing process to join CHN,
• DSS has issued an RFP for the HUSKY program (excluding dental), for services starting July 1, 2008.  This makes the March 1 to July 1 'gap' period system, outlined above, temporary.  A new system, perhaps with new MCO(s), would start July 1, 2008, and
  
• The dental carve-out is a separate RFP which, as indicated above, has not yet gone out.
  

The situation overall with HUSKY is complicated and confusing to both providers and patients.  Unfortunately this creates yet another barrier to our HUSKY kids receiving the oral health care that they need.

We hope that the State will work to expedite the implementation of the HUSKY dental carve-out, raising reimbursement rates and increasing access to care.  There is $20M waiting to make the difference for poor kids on HUSKY.