Medicaid Reimbursements For Dental Care Too Low, Witnesses Testify

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Dentistry
Article Date: 02 Apr 2007 - 8:00 PDT

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Witnesses testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Tuesday said that insufficient Medicaid reimbursements and onerous paperwork for dental care have led many dentists to decline to treat beneficiaries, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to witnesses, these inefficiencies are putting children in the program at risk of not receiving preventive dental care that could stave off more serious medical problems. American Dental Association President Kathleen Roth said that in Wisconsin, where she practices, the "reimbursement schedule is so meager that, in most cases, it doesn't cover dentists' overhead." She added, "The whole process is so frustrating that it discourages dentists from participating in the program at all." Subcommittee Chair Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said, "Millions of families who obtain their health insurance from their employers do not have policies that cover dental care, leaving them with few places to seek care." Witness Nicholas Mosca, dental director for the state of Mississippi, said that Congress should expand dental care coverage within SCHIP when the program is reauthorized later this year. However, Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association, said, "Benefit mandates, or any other attempt to make SCHIP more like Medicaid, will only serve to thwart this progress and could ultimately erode the improvements made so far." Subcommittee ranking member Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) said that rather than implementing mandates, Congress should consider providing liability waivers or a tax deduction to dentists who provide care at no cost to the poor. He added, "At some point, people must take personal responsibility for their oral health" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 3/27).

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