More and more states across the U.S., including Tennessee and New Hampshire, are expanding health coverage for its poorest residents by offering dental treatment.
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Access remains difficult in many of those states with some dentists refusing to treat Medicaid patients. Even those who want to expand their practice are finding themselves caught up in red tape. "You put off care and you get sicker and then it becomes a crisis where you’re missing work or you end up going to the emergency department where you get a big bill and you don’t get the tooth actually taken care of," said Dr. Rhonda Switzer-Nadasdi, the chief executive officer of Interfaith Dental Clinic which has offices in Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
"There is an increasing understanding that oral health is inseparable from health care," said New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Joe Schapiro, who was the prime sponsor of the expanded dental benefits bill.
While advocates are welcoming these changes, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana still only offer limited benefits., millions of beneficiaries are being culled from the Medicaid program nationwide as part of a review of eligibility, something states were prohibited from doing during the pandemic.
Dr. Heather Taylor, an assistant professor at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University, said some of Indiana’s Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental have not increased since 1998.
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