Children on Medicaid Get Less Dental Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 10, 2001CONTACT: Robert Raible, [email protected], 202/789-5166

Fred Peterson, [email protected]

Leslee Williams, [email protected], 312/440-2806

CHILDREN ON MEDICAID GET LESS DENTAL CARE THAN THOSE PRIVATELY INSURED

WASHINGTON, D.C. --Children enrolled in state Medicaid programs receive less dental care than children covered by private insurance, according to an article in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). The article is based on an analysis of the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), the most recent in a series of surveys conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

"The authors' work is yet another confirmation of what we already know--that too many children at the poverty level and below do not receive adequate dental care," said ADA President Robert Anderton, D.D.S., J.D., LL.M. "The question is, 'What are we doing about it?' Although we have made significant advances in the last year or so, we have a long way to go. Many states are making progress in improving inadequate Medicaid and other assistance program and more solutions are being considered at the federal level; but we as a nation must pick up the pace of addressing the problem. The dental profession cannot solve this single-handedly."

The JADA study shows that while 56 percent of children with private coverage had at least one dental visit in 1996, only 28 percent of Medicaid-covered children made such a visit. Authors Richard Manski, D.D.S., M.B.A., Ph.D.; Burton Edelstein, D.D.S., M.P.H.; and John Moeller, Ph.D., explain that "a relative lack of access to Medicaid dental providers" might have contributed to the low percentage of Medicaid-covered children receiving routine care. The authors also found that many children in households eligible for Medicaid coverage are not enrolled in the program.

For more information on oral health, visit the ADA's web site at http://www.ada.org.

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