Utah’s Medicaid Program Plans To Expand Dental Coverage

Utah's Medicaid program will to cover dental X-rays, fillings and root canals for the first time in two years, officials from the Utah Department of Health announced Thursday during a public hearing, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. While the new dental coverage is "not enough" for many Medicaid beneficiaries, "particularly because exams aren't included," the proposal "is the best [the department] could do with the money lawmakers appropriated for the upcoming fiscal year," which begins July 1, the Tribune reports. During the last legislative session, legislators appropriated $1 million to restore Medicaid dental benefits, which lawmakers eliminated in 2002 for everyone except children and pregnant women. The department estimates that it can cover X-rays, root canals and fillings for nine months with the current funding. If exams were also included, funding for the coverage would last only seven months. The new coverage will be extended only to "traditional" Medicaid beneficiaries, including seniors and residents who are blind or have disabilities, according to the Tribune. Don Hawley, a dentist who oversees the department's Medicaid dental program, said that some dentists might give exams for free. Jerry Cosley, president of the Disabled Rights Action Committee, said, "It I can't get the exam, I can't get the root canal. That may create an insurmountable barrier that I can't overcome." The department is expected to finalize the proposal early this week (Santini, Salt Lake Tribune, 5/3).