Michigan Bill Would Provide Tax Credit to Dentists Treating Medicaid Beneficiaries

A Michigan Senate committee is considering a bill that would offer dentists who treat Medicaid beneficiaries a tax credit equal to either their annual student loan payments or $5,000, whichever is less, the AP/Detroit News reports. To be eligible to claim the tax credit for four years, dentists must be Michigan residents, have their primary practice in the state and provide at least 12 hours of dental services to Medicaid beneficiaries each month, state Sen. Gerald Van Woerkom (R), who introduced the bill, said (AP/Detroit News, 10/31). The bill comes after Medicaid coverage for nonemergency dental services for about 600,000 beneficiaries in Michigan was eliminated Oct. 1 as a result of budget reductions. In previous years, Medicaid spending for adult dental services has totaled $20 million, according to Michigan Department of Community Health spokesperson Geralyn Lasher (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/4).