Government
GAO: Medicaid dental care still needs work
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 19, 2009
Although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has improved its oversight of state Medicaid programs' dental care, the agency needs to take more action to ensure that states and health plans provide better access, according to recent Government Accountability Office testimony to Congress.
The GAO credited CMS for conducting reviews of 17 state Medicaid dental programs between October 2007 and May 2008 and for improving communications with states. But CMS did not take any actions in eight states that were found to contract with managed care organizations without adequate networks of dentists, according to testimony by Katherine M. Iritani, a director in GAO's health care division.
GAO also surveyed Medicaid programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The states reported that low payment rates, administrative burdens, insufficient funding and missed appointments by enrollees continue to hamper their ability to provide dental care through their Medicaid programs. Only one state has a Medicaid dental care utilization rate higher than 50%, despite a Dept. of Health and Human Services goal of having 66% of children on Medicaid access preventive dental care.
The GAO testimony is online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/10/19/gvbf1019.htm.
