NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For months, Carlton Clemons endured excruciating pain from rotting wisdom teeth. He couldn’t sleep, ate little, and relied on painkillers to survive.
The 67-year-old man from Nashville, Tennessee, couldn’t afford to see a dentist on the $1,300 a month his family received in Social Security and disability benefits. So he waited for the state to roll out a program this year that would provide dental care to more than 650,000 Medicaid recipients like him, ages 21 and older. Tennessee spends about $75 million a year on the program.
After having his tooth removed at Meharry Medical College and Dentistry in July, he said, “I thought I was going to heaven because the pain was gone.” “I was so happy when they brought it out. I was so happy. Everything changed after that.”
His wife, Cindy, also receives Medicaid and had a tooth extracted at the clinic.
Medicaid, federal and state health insurance programs for the poor; States require dental insurance coverage for children, but not adults.. But with growing awareness of the economic and medical costs of poor dental health and an influx of federal funds related to the pandemic, six states started or expanded Medicaid programs for adults this year.
Access remains difficult in many of these states, with some dentists refusing to treat Medicaid patients. Even those who want to expand their practice find themselves caught up in red tape.
Dr. Victor Wu, chief medical officer for Tennessee’s Medicaid program, is pleased with the rollout of the Medicaid dental benefit, which began in January, but hopes the state will build a network and increase dentist participation rates. He said he recognized that it was necessary.
Dental care is often considered routine, but poor people often go years or even decades without it. Doing so poses significant costs to taxpayers and to those who cannot afford treatment.
A Texas A&M University study found that treating preventable dental conditions accounts for up to 2.5% of emergency department visits and costs $2 billion annually. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, untreated oral diseases cost the United States an additional $45 billion in lost productivity each year.
“If you put off treatment and your illness worsens, you end up missing work, having to go to the emergency room, racking up big bills, and missing out on actual dental care. ,” said Dr. Rhonda Switzer Nadasdy, CEO of Interface Dental Clinic, with offices in Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
“To get a good job, you need good teeth,” Switzer Nadasdy said.
According to CareQuest Oral Health Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the Some states limit coverage to certain groups or cover only emergency treatment. To expand the range of dental care.
Hawaii, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Maryland, and New Hampshire were the slowest to start or expand dental insurance coverage. They did that again this year.
New Hampshire spends $33.4 million over a 12-month period to provide dental care to 88,000 Medicaid recipients.
“There is a growing understanding that oral health is an integral part of health care,” said Rep. Joe Shapiro, D-New Hampshire, the lead sponsor of the dental benefit expansion bill. “The amount of money that is spent on other medical issues related to oral health, and the amount of money that is spent on emergency treatment when people are unable to receive any kind of preventive or restorative care, is unfortunate for the health of those people. It not only costs a lot of money, but also a huge amount of money. ”
In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear pushed through emergency regulations that would ensure about 900,000 Kentuckians would continue to receive dental care after the Republican-led Legislature rejected his proposal.
“We are focused on removing barriers that prevent people from returning to work, and this program will do just that,” he said.
Virginia expanded its Medicaid program in 2021. It has a budget of $282 million for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, covering dental care for more than 1 million patients. Last year, Kansas gave dental access to about 137,000 Medicaid recipients at a cost of $3.5 million in 2022 and $1.2 million in 2023.
Advocates have hailed the changes, but they still offer limited benefits in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana.
