AMERICAN DENTAL PLAN

In an effort to provide more low-income families with access to dental care, Pat Quinn, governor of Illinois, recently signed a bill into law that allows more area dentists to volunteer their time at free dental care clinics.

Currently, health offices that provide volunteer care by a dentist cannot receive financial reimbursements for services, equipment and supply costs, unless the dentist is a Medicaid provider. The new law will now allow all nonprofit health clinics to receive funding for treatments, dental tools and other expenses.

Quinn hopes by signing in the new bill, more dentists and oral hygienists to provide treatments for low-income families.

“Keeping Illinois’ families healthy is one of the most important duties I have as Governor, and dental problems can lead to serious health issues,” said Quinn. He added that “I am proud to sign this legislation to help more families see a dentist and get the care they need to stay healthy.”

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A new study from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has found that a large number of low-income children did not receive dental care treatments last year. In fact, only 42.8 percent of these patients regularly see a dentists.

Low-income families that are covered by Medical Assistance, Pennsylvania’s affiliate of Medicaid, have access to managed care programs that require the state to provide several dental providers. However, many dentists aren’t participating in the program because they won’t receive full reimbursement and children are still not receiving oral hygiene services. For example, from May 2009 to April 2010, only 26 percent of Pennsylvania dentists treated a patient who had Medicaid as their dental insurance provider. State representatives hope that future reimbursement plans will increase funding and the number of participating dentists. “We don’t have exact figures , but I can say the state is making great strides in improving the dental assistance portion of the Medicaid program,” said Monica R. Costlow, a senior policy analyst in Pennsylvania and co-author of the study.Ltd.
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