ACA Dental Care Needs
ACA & Dental Care Needs October 22 — The Affordable Care Act has increased the number of children securing dental coverage through private and public (Medicaid) insurance, and the law prioritizes preventive care. Yet a traditional approach to "prevention" is
ACA & Dental Care Needs
October 22 — The Affordable Care Act has increased the number of children securing dental coverage through private and public (Medicaid) insurance, and the law prioritizes preventive care. Yet a traditional approach to “prevention” is undermining states’ efforts to reduce the rate of tooth decay among Medicaid-enrolled, preschool-age children. A new policy brief by the Children’s Dental Health Project (CDHP) urges states to provide more frequent preventive services for these children instead of relying on “the traditional one-size-fits-all, six-month prevention ‘recall visit.'”
Experts have voiced alarm at high cavity rates among U.S. children under age 6. National data on dental decay reveal a significant gap in cavity rates between low-income kids under age 6 and their more affluent peers in the same age group. The failure to reach young children with proven forms of prevention can impose higher treatment costs later on state Medicaid programs. CDHP’s brief recommends seven policy options for states to reduce dental disease and its costs.
Patrice Pascual, CDHP’s executive director, said, “Low-income children are most likely to experience tooth decay, but they are least likely to get crucial preventive care. That has to change.”
CDHP’s brief shares data from New York State as an example of how different prevention strategies could reduce cavities and dental treatment costs for Medicaid-enrolled children. CDHP is a Washington, D.C.-based independent nonprofit that identifies and advances innovative, cost-effective solutions for improving the oral health of children and families.
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