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Why doesn't medicaid provide dental coverage for adults?
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:17 pm
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:17 pm
This seems odd to me, considering the ER will not perform dental service.
Last I checked, only about four states offer dental overage for adults on medicaid.
The reason I am asking this is because I recently volunteered at a clinic providing free dental care for people. 99% of the people there were adults on medicaid.
While we are at it, why doesn't medicare provide coverage also? There were tons of old people there, too.
Last I checked, only about four states offer dental overage for adults on medicaid.
The reason I am asking this is because I recently volunteered at a clinic providing free dental care for people. 99% of the people there were adults on medicaid.
While we are at it, why doesn't medicare provide coverage also? There were tons of old people there, too.
9
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:32 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
I'm a full time employed person with employer-provided medical insurance and I do not have dental coverage or vision coverage. why should Medicaid provide it????
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:35 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
There are some dentists in the ERs (mostly students) at least in California. I didn't know this either until a friend told me he interns in ERs in LA while in dental school at USC
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:36 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Actually some states have experimented with doing so, with interesting results. LINK
quote:
We find that when states add dental benefit to adult Medicaid coverage, dentists' participation in Medicaid increases and dentists see more publicly insured patients without decreasing the number of visits provided to privately insured patients. Dentists increase the total number of visits they supply each week while only modestly increasing the amount of time they spend working. They achieve this primarily by making greater use of dental hygienists. As a result, dentists' income increases. Wait times increase modestly, with the largest increases in wait times observed in states with restrictive scope of practice laws governing dental hygienists. These changes are most pronounced among dentists who practice in poor areas where Medicaid coverage is greatest.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:52 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Dental is not worrisome for obamas democrats as they lost all their teeth while gnawing away on the US constitution.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 7:03 pm to 90proofprofessional
quote:
quote:
We find that when states add dental benefit to adult Medicaid coverage, dentists' participation in Medicaid increases and dentists see more publicly insured patients without decreasing the number of visits provided to privately insured patients. Dentists increase the total number of visits they supply each week while only modestly increasing the amount of time they spend working. They achieve this primarily by making greater use of dental hygienists. As a result, dentists' income increases. Wait times increase modestly, with the largest increases in wait times observed in states with restrictive scope of practice laws governing dental hygienists. These changes are most pronounced among dentists who practice in poor areas where Medicaid coverage is greatest.
So what states allow dental hygienists to do dental work, not cleanings?
I have a difficult time believing that their bottom line increased considering how low the medicaid reimbursements are.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 7:21 pm to ruzil
quote:
So what states allow dental hygienists to do dental work, not cleanings?
I don't know which do, if any. At any rate that's not what their "scope of practice" dummy was. Paper is gated, but this is the table for the scope of practice control, which seems to refer to whether whatever the DH's can do is billable to medicaid, as opposed to just stuff done by DDS's:
quote:
Table 9. Dental Hygienist Scope of Practice Laws by State.
Dental hygienists cannot bill Medicaid directly for services rendered
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
Dental hygienists can bill Medicaid directly for services rendered
Arizona (2007), California (1998), Colorado (2001), Connecticut (2001), Maine (2002),
Massachusetts (2009), Minnesota (2002), Missouri (2002), Montana (2007), Nebraska (2008), Nevada (2003), New Mexico (2003), Oregon (2000), Washington (2002), Wisconsin (2006)
Posted on 7/27/14 at 7:59 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
You don't know about the extremely powerful denture lobby.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 8:47 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:Why don't they pay for it themselves? I'm sure there are Dentist that would discount their services for the needy. Most people don't go to the Dentist because they are scared shitless.
Why doesn't medicaid provide dental coverage for adults?
Posted on 7/27/14 at 9:37 pm to 90proofprofessional
quote:
Dental hygienists can bill Medicaid directly for services rendered
Arizona (2007), California (1998), Colorado (2001), Connecticut (2001), Maine (2002),
Massachusetts (2009), Minnesota (2002), Missouri (2002), Montana (2007), Nebraska (2008), Nevada (2003), New Mexico (2003), Oregon (2000), Washington (2002), Wisconsin (2006)
Maybe these states have independent hygiene practice. They can bill for hygiene related services but I would highly doubt they could bill for restorative services, extractions and dentures that they have never been trained to do.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 10:06 pm to ruzil
quote:
They can bill for hygiene related services but I would highly doubt they could bill for restorative services, extractions and dentures that they have never been trained to do.
I'm guessing it's sometimes a bit beyond simply "hygiene-related", but as for the things you listed I'd bet you're right
I did come across this which shows how scope of practice for DH's changes state-to-state. You can see how some stuff simply isn't allowed in some states, is allowed under the direct supervision of a dentist in some, and is allowed under general supervision (IOW no requirement for dentist to be present) in others
Posted on 7/28/14 at 2:02 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
This seems odd to me
What seems equally odd to me is that vision, itself, is a luxury. For instance, under most health plans, a child with strabismus (eyes misaligned slightly so one eye takes over as the primary seeing eye while the other goes blind due to cortical development and no fault of the eye itself) can have visits to correct the strabismus covered. A person of any age, however, who just has severe myopia or hyperopia (near or farsightedness) cannot have those visits paid for under many standard insurance plans. I do not understand why basic eyesight correction without underlying pathologies is an out of pocket cost in a system that pushes preventative services at low/no extra cost. It and the routine dental services you mention have always confused me.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 2:18 am to Hopeful Doc
At the clinic I volunteered at, the second most common need beside dental (it was mainly dental, about 90%), was the need for new glasses.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 6:22 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
This seems odd to me, considering the ER will not perform dental service.
Last I checked, only about four states offer dental overage for adults on medicaid.
The reason I am asking this is because I recently volunteered at a clinic providing free dental care for people. 99% of the people there were adults on medicaid.
While we are at it, why doesn't medicare provide coverage also? There were tons of old people there, too.
Why doesn't health care in general include dental coverage?
Probably goes back to our British roots. Teeth are just aesthetics.
The cost to just yank a tooth out is fairly low (<$100). While the cost to do a root canal, core build-up, and crown is over 10 X's that amount. Which would you have medicaid/medicare cover?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 6:23 am to SpidermanTUba
quote:lol wut
Teeth are just aesthetics.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 6:23 am to Pilot Tiger
quote:
Probably goes back to our British roots.
You don't need teeth to eat half of the crap called "British" cuisine.
This post was edited on 7/28/14 at 6:24 am
Posted on 7/28/14 at 6:25 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
HailHailtoMichigan!
What about vision? Do they cover any of that?
seems like health care insurance does (though not always) cover eye diseases (like keratoconas, which sucks BTW) - but they won't cover just basic near sightness or far sightedness.
This post was edited on 7/28/14 at 6:26 am
Posted on 7/28/14 at 7:01 am to SpidermanTUba
quote:
The cost to just yank a tooth out is fairly low (<$100). While the cost to do a root canal, core build-up, and crown is over 10 X's that amount.
Both are well below the deductible so it doesn't matter anyway.
You can get dental coverage but it's pretty much a scam. You're better off paying out of pocket.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 7:16 am to Bestbank Tiger
quote:
You're better off paying out of pocket.
Pretty much. A dentist friend of mine said the same thing, if you have relatively good teeth.
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