The Medicaid System: 15 Million Kids Not Getting Dental Care

The Medicaid System: 15 Million Kids Not Getting Dental Care - Dental Health Magazine: A study released a few months ago (late 2011) revealed that even though there are huge efforts put into making the situation of the patient-provider in the Medicaid system much better, patients coming from low income families had very limited access to proper dental care. Those who had access to these dental services through Medicaid, were those who actually paid an out of pocket amount for the treatments they received.

The biggest problem seems to be in the case of children, because they are the ones who suffer from the ignorance of the grown ups. Dentists don’t want to accept working through Medicaid because of the low reimbursement rates, and Medicaid doesn’t make any huge efforts to motivate dentists to take on more patients. This is a true vicious circle, where sadly the little ones and the poorest ones are paying the highest price.