Kathleen Hamilton testified today at the Senate Budget Subcommittee #3 hearing at the California State Capitol in support of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s proposal to address dental care access problems in Sacramento County. She made the following statement.
“Tooth decay currently ranks as the largest unmet health need in California. Recently, problems in accessing dental care among children enrolled in Medi-Cal in Sacramento County have surfaced, illustrating how difficult it is for underserved children to find a dental provider to serve them. As a result of the lack of providers to see children enrolled in Medi-Cal, millions of children suffer from chronic pain, missed school days, and expensive visits to hospital emergency rooms.
We applaud Senate President Pro Tem Steinberg for taking action to ensure that Sacramento’s children have more opportunities to receive dental care by making the County’s Medi-Cal dental managed care program voluntary and expanding access to fee-for-service dental care. We also support efforts to hold dental managed care plans accountable for ensuring enough providers are available so that all kids can get the dental care they need.”
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