NEW BRITAIN, FEBRUARY 23, 2010 – Connecticut rates an “A” for improving children’s dental health over the last 10 years and ranks fourth nationwide for its Medicaid reimbursement rate to dentists. Both marks are part of a recently released report by the Pew Center on the States (PCS), which works to advance state policies that serve the public interest.
The report, “The Cost of Delay: State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children,” graded all 50 states and the District of Columbia on an A-F scale based on how well they employ eight policy approaches to ensure dental health and access to care for children.
Connecticut, recognized as a national leader in children’s dental health, met at least six of the eight indicators to earn its fourth-best ranking, which reflects how improvements in the Medicaid reimbursement rate have helped expand children’s access to necessary services.
“If this had been 10 years ago, Connecticut would have received a ‘D’,” says Patricia Baker, president & CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health). “Ten years ago, CT Health identified children’s oral health as an urgent need for the state’s underserved and unserved children, and made a long-term commitment to improve access to dental care.”
Why the difference in 10 years? “This is an affirmation of the foundation’s work in partnership with oral health stakeholders by investing more than $10 million in oral health grant-making to community health clinics, community collaboratives, researchers and advocates to improve dental care access for HUSKY A-enrolled children,” notes Baker.
It is through the coordinated work of stakeholders, a lawsuit and the foundation’s investment, and policy research and analysis that Connecticut met six of the eight policy benchmarks that led to the ‘A.’ Specific improvements include:
- Increased reimbursement rates for dentists, resulting in a 32.8% growth between 2009 and 2010 in dental practitioners participating in Medicaid
- Doubled coverage for HUSKY A-enrolled children
Despite this change, there is still a real gap or disconnect between children’s and adult coverage. The state needs to increase reimbursement for adults as it did for children to increase adult participation. This will make a child most likely to practice the same behavior. Others marginalized include the intellectually disabled, elderly and pregnant women.
The report also shows:
- By enacting a handful of effective policy solutions, states can save taxpayers’ money and help eliminate the long-term health and economic consequences of untreated dental disease among kids.
- $106 billion that Americans are expected to spend on dental care in 2010 includes many expensive treatments that could have been avoided if preventive care had been received when they were children.
“There is still so much to do, and we must be vigilant about not letting the need slip through our fingers because we received an ‘A’,” says Baker.
About the Connecticut Health Foundation
Celebrating its 10th year, the Connecticut Health Foundation is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving lives by changing health systems. Since it was established in July 1999, the foundation has supported innovative grant-making, public health policy research, technical assistance and convening to achieve its mission – to improve the health of the people of Connecticut.
Over the past 10 years, CT Health has awarded 492 grants totaling $39.1 million in 44 cities and towns throughout the state in three priority areas:
- Improving access to children’s mental health services
- Reducing racial and ethnic health disparities
- Expanding access to and use of children’s oral health services
For more information about the foundation, please visit www.cthealth.org or contact Communications Officer Maryland Grier at Maryland@cthealth.org or 860.224.2200, ext. 32.