Colorado, Connecticut, Maine Work To Increase Access to Dental Services
The following summarizes recent news regarding access to dental services in Colorado, Connecticut and Maine.
- Colorado: The Caring for Colorado Foundation is launching a five-year, $5 million initiative to improve the accessibility of dental services in part by attracting more dentists to the state. As part of the effort, the foundation held a video conference on March 21 to solicit ideas on how to improve access. However, some advocates said that even if the number of dentists in Colorado increases, people will still have access problems if they lack dental insurance. Maureen McGrain, executive director of Service Empowerment and Transformation, said, "Medical insurance is difficult to come by, and it's even worse for dental insurance. Without insurance, unless you pony up the money, you're not going to get any kind of oral health" (Sampson, Colorado Springs Gazette, 3/20).
- Connecticut: Fewer than 12% of children enrolled in the state's Medicaid program were treated for dental disease in 1999, according to a new study by the Connecticut Health Foundation and the Children's Fund of Connecticut. During the same year, 71% of children in Medicaid did not receive dental treatment at all. Part of the reason behind the high number of children going without dental care is the large number of dentists who will not treat Medicaid beneficiaries; fewer than 4% of Connecticut dentists regularly accept Medicaid patients. Dr. James Crall, director of Columbia University's Oral Health Disparities Center, suggested that Medicaid reimbursements be increased to attract more dentists to Connecticut and outreach efforts be targeted at letting parents know where their children can receive regular dental checkups (Hathaway, Hartford Courant, 3/22).
- Maine: The Finance Authority of Maine is offering a new loan repayment program to attract dentists to work in underserved areas of the state. Under the program, dentists or dental students who agree to work in the state and treat patents who are uninsured or enrolled in the state's Medicaid or CHIP programs will receive $20,000 annually for four years to apply toward their student loans. Currently, Maine has only 584 dentists and is one of about 12 states with the lowest practioner-to-resident ratios nationwide (AP/Portland Press Herald, 3/19).
