More than half of the 5.1 million children enrolled in Denti-Cal, California’s Medicaid dental program, did not receive dental care last year, and some counties lack providers to meet patients’ oral care needs, according to a new state audit.
The 92-page report blames poor provider participation and low reimbursement rates, some of which have not increased since 2000. Those rates were cut by 10% in 2013.
The program “needs to do a much better job in making sure enrolled children are getting the dental care they need,” wrote the Children’s Partnership, a nonprofit child advocacy organization that pushed for the audit, in an email to DrBicuspid.com.
