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2/21/2017 |
Insights |
Pediatric Dental Care Requires New Policies To Improve |
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Pediatric Dental Care Requires New Policies To Improve by C. Scott Litch This February, dentistrytoday.com celebrates National Children's Dental Health Month with news stories, interviews, and blogs all about safeguarding pediatric oral health. #NCDHM Tooth decay remains the most prevalent childhood disease, even though it is entirely preventable. Access to care is a chief roadblock in ensuring pediatric oral health. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) works to enact change on a national level to better connect families and dentists. - When meeting with policymakers, the AAPD always emphasizes the following: The AAPD is committed to optimal oral healthcare for all children. This means establishing a dental home for a child by the age of one year.
- Pediatric dental practices are the backbone of oral healthcare for our nation’s children.
- On average, 70% of pediatric dentists participate in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), comprising 25% of their patients.
- Pediatric dentists also provide significant amounts of free or discounted care.
The AAPD has a robust legislative and regulatory agenda for 2017, which is available online. The 2 highest AAPD priorities at the federal level are healthcare reform and funding for health professionals’ training. Policy Recommendations In 2017, healthcare reform essentially means how Congress will handle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in terms of repeal, replacement, or repair. To ensure that children receive the oral healthcare they need, and based on experience to date under the ACA, the AAPD is making 4 recommendations. First, any required health insurance coverage for children should include pediatric oral health coverage, either through an appropriately structured standalone dental plan (SADP) or embedded medical plan—that is, a health insurance plan that includes pediatric dental coverage. While pediatric oral health was defined as an essential benefit in the ACA, federal regulators determined that the actual legislative language did not require purchase of such coverage. This has resulted in an odd outcome that while more than one million adults nationwide have purchased private standalone dental insurance plans under the ACA, only slightly more than 100,000 children have gained such coverage. Second, preventive dental services should have first dollar coverage, meaning they should be exempt from cost sharing (deductibles or copays) in embedded medical plans and SADPs. Embedded plans should have separate dental deductibles. AAPD member pediatric dentists have reported problems with families not realizing their ACA medical plans with dental coverage embedded had a high combined deductible, such as $5,000. This resulted in the families cancelling or delaying preventive dental appointments for their children. Read full article on Dentistry Today.
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