Investigators from University of Washington Target Managed Care (Effects of Adult Medicaid Dental Benefits Elimination On Child Dental Care Use): Managed Care

2022 JUL 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Seattle, Washington, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The objective of this study was to examine the effect of adult dental benefit cuts on child dental use in Washington state Medicaid and determine if cuts affect child demographic subgroups differentially. The study used an interrupted time-series methodology to measure differences in child dental use after adult dental benefit elimination and reinstatement.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Washington, “Monthly data came from Washington state Medicaid enrollee and dental claim files from January 2008 to December 2015. Medicaid-enrolled children with at least one Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household were the intervention group, and Medicaid-enrolled children without a Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household were the control group. The outcome was the monthly proportion of Medicaid-enrolled children with a dental examination per 10,000 Medicaid-enrolled children. After adult dental benefits elimination, dental examinations among children with Medicaid-enrolled adults in the same household gradually decreased, corresponding to 65 fewer dental examinations per 10,000 children per year (5.4 fewer dental examinations per 10,000 children per month; 95% confidence interval: -7.7, -3.1; P=0.006). Adult dental benefits had no effect on dental examination for children without a Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household. Dental examinations for children with a Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household continued to gradually decrease after adult benefits reinstatement. Children younger than age 6 were the most adversely impacted by changes to adult Medicaid dental benefits.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Policymakers should consider the spillover effects and ethical considerations of eliminating adult Medicaid dental benefits on children’s access to dental care.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Effects of Adult Medicaid Dental Benefits Elimination On Child Dental Care Use. Medical Care, 2022;60(8):579-587. Medical Care can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA. (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins - www.lww.com; Medical Care - http://journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/pages/default.aspx)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Donald L. Chi., University of Washington, Dept. of Oral Health Sciences, Seattle, WA 98195, United States. Additional authors for this research include Courtney M. Hill and Michael P. Jones.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1097/mlr.0000000000001739. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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