New Managed Care Findings from University of Illinois Described (Dental Care Access for Young Children With Medicaid: Groundtruthing Online Data and Actual Access in the Chicago Metro Area): Managed Care

2026 JUL 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on Managed Care are discussed in a new report. According to news originating from Chicago, Illinois, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Many dental clinics reportedly accept Medicaid for young children per online sources, but parents’ experiences suggest that this differs from actual access. Recognizing potential differences between reported and realized access, we studied realized dental care access and neighborhood-level barriers to care in the Chicago metro area.”

Financial support for this research came from National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Illinois, “We created a list of Medicaid-accepting dental clinics using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Insurekidsnow.gov ‘Find a Dentist’ search engine tool. Limited to Coordinated Oral Health Promotion Chicago Cohort Study participants’ ZIP Codes (N = 51), research staff called each clinic posing as parents trying to schedule their Medicaid-insured children for appointments. Dental clinic and participant addresses were geocoded; using American Community Survey data, we estimated the population’s actual access to Medicaid-accepting clinics and neighborhood-level barriers. We used an Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area analysis to determine realized access and identify disparities. Of the 379 dental clinics identified online as taking Medicaid insurance for children, only 240 (63.32%) confirmed accepting Medicaid. The catchment area overall met the Health Professional Shortage Area threshold (1 dentist: 5000 population), indicating adequate access for the Medicaid-insured population. Yet, some southern Chicago/southwestern suburbs had exceptionally poor access (< 1 dental clinic: 10,000 population). Online data showed many dental clinics accepted Medicaid for children, but our study revealed that realized dental care access varied dramatically, with the fewest clinics in areas with the highest portion of children on Medicaid and the largest socioeconomic barriers.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Multilevel change is needed to ensure access to critical dental health services for all.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Dental Care Access for Young Children With Medicaid: Groundtruthing Online Data and Actual Access in the Chicago Metro Area. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 2026. Journal of Public Health Dentistry can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Journal of Public Health Dentistry - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1752-7325)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Hailey Steele, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Additional authors for this research include Natalie Crnosija, Amy Mitchell, Jose Penaloza, Ayleen Mokbel, Anna Sandoval, Joshua Tootoo, Briana Soriano, Aaron Lilienfeld, Melissa Fiffer, Marie Lynn Miranda and Molly Martin.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/jphd.70064. 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.

The publisher’s contact information for the Journal of Public Health Dentistry is: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.

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