The state of Pennsylvania has decided to cut back on the dental coverage currently offered in their Medicaid program. Medicaid is an insurance for people who are low-income. It is unlikely this group will be able to afford to purchase a private form of dental insurance.
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. It seems that when a state is interested in making cuts, in order to reduce costs and fit within a budget, those cuts come out of the programs that are designed to help the people who have the lowest income. This would be the group that is least able to afford to purchase a private form of insurance to replace the coverage that they used to receive.
Medicaid is a public form of health insurance. It is paid for, in part, by the federal government, and in part by an individual state. The percentage that each pays into the program can vary by state. In order to qualify for Medicaid, a person must have an income that is below a certain amount. In other words, this is a program for people who cannot afford to purchase a private health insurance plan.
Not all states offer dental coverage as part of their Medicaid program. Pennsylvania was one of the states that did, but this is about to change. The state of Pennsylvania has now eliminated coverage for root canals, periodontal disease work, and has placed a limit on the number of dentures that a patient can receive.
Now, people who live in Pennsylvania and use Medicaid will only receive a basic dental care plan. This will cover cleanings, fillings, extractions, and little else. This will affect the 2 million people in Pennsylvania that receive Medicaid. I find it interesting that the state will pay for someone to have a tooth extracted, but will require the person to pay for dentures to replace that tooth themselves. The dentures cost much more than the extraction did!
What happens to people who cannot afford to have their dental health care needs taken care of? Many resort to putting off having necessary care done until they are in so much pain that they cannot stand it. At that point, people will go to an emergency room in a hospital in the hopes of receiving treatment.
The ER is a less than ideal place to get dental care. It isn’t set up for dentistry. A patient cannot easily receive follow up care from the ER. Doctors in an emergency room might be able to preform a tooth extraction, or to prescribe antibiotics and painkillers for a person who has a badly abscessed tooth.
The ER cannot create dentures for a person who requires them, and cannot afford to pay for them. The change to the dental coverage in Medicaid is going to leave a lot of people with no way to access the dental care they require.
Image by Brian Swan on Flickr