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The No-Care Dental Plan
HARTFORD COURANT
May 12 2005
Dr. Michael Goodman, a Newington children's dentist who's been practicing
for 38 years, will retire reluctantly in June. He can no longer afford
to treat poor children and keep his office running.
He is one of a handful of pediatric dentists in the state who accept Medicaid
patients. Children come from as far away as Willimantic and Putnam because
there are virtually no other private-practice dentists willing to treat
children in Windham County who are on Medicaid or uninsured. The situation
for adults is even bleaker.
Dentists participating in Medicaid are reimbursed today at the same rate
to treat adults as they were in 1989, and at 1993 rates for children. It's
about 30 to 35 percent of what regular patients are charged and covers
only about 60 percent of the dentist's cost for most procedures.
Imagine expecting an auto repair shop to accept rates that are outdated.
Despite a pending lawsuit against the state demanding more reasonable dental
reimbursements, little has changed in five years except that access to
dentists is dwindling. About 4 percent of the state's 2,500 dentists take
Medicaid patients, according to a study by the Connecticut Oral Health
Initiative. There are more than 300,000 Medicaid-eligible patients, 200,000
of them children. Two-thirds go untreated.
School-based dental clinics offer some preventive services. But many so-called
safety-net clinics for the poor have long waiting lists. As a result, those
with dental emergencies often turn to hospital emergency rooms where they
get expensive, stop-gap care.
This is not only scandalous but wasteful. Regular dental care is key to
preventing other health and social problems, from lost work and lost school
time to diabetes and low birth weight.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell has proposed spending $2 million to pay for dental equipment
at community health clinics. A bill making its way through the legislature
offers some ideas for increasing access, among them allowing foreign-trained
dentists to earn a Connecticut license by working in a safety-net clinic
for two years, among other requirements.
Both initiatives may ease the backlog, but the effects will be marginal.
Dentists should be reimbursed at a fair rate that reflects their costs.
Until they are, most poor children and adults will go without proper care
and taxpayers will end up with the bill for the consequences.
Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant
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