Study Data from St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children Provide New Insights into Managed Care (Emergency Dental Care in the ACA Era: Rural-Urban Disparities and Their Association With State Medicaid Policy): Managed Care

2026 FEB 09 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Managed Care is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Rural US populations face greater barriers to dental care than urban residents. This study examines emergency department (ED) visits for nontraumatic dental conditions (NTDCs) among adults, comparing rural and urban areas.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, “It also explores how Medicaid expansion and varying state Medicaid dental policies influence the likelihood of NTDC-related ED visits. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using 2019 ED data from eight states. Descriptive statistics characterized NTDC-related ED visits by patient, visit, and county-level variables across four Medicaid policy groups. Chi-squared tests and T-tests assessed rural-urban differences in visit characteristics and payer mix. Logistic regression models estimated the likelihood of NTDC ED visits by rurality and payer type, adjusting for sociodemographic factors and stratified by Medicaid expansion and adult dental benefit status. Rural NTDC ED visits were shorter (2.5 h) and less costly ($1602) than urban visits (over 3 h, $2532). Analysis of rurality and payer mix revealed three key patterns: (i) rural residents consistently had higher visit rates than urban residents in three of the four groups; (ii) uninsured patients-both rural and urban-had the highest probability of NTDC ED visits in three of the four groups; and (iii) among Medicaid-covered visits, rural enrollees in non-expansion states without adult dental benefits had the highest likelihood of NTDC ED visits. This study highlights continued ED reliance for NTDCs 5 years post-ACA, driven by Medicaid policy and access gaps.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Expanding rural oral healthcare remains vital for improving access, especially for the uninsured.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Emergency Dental Care in the ACA Era: Rural-Urban Disparities and Their Association With State Medicaid Policy. 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 Dan Burch, Dept. of Dental Medicine, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children - Tower Health & Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Additional authors for this research include Marvellous A. Akinlotan and Alva O. Ferdinand.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/jphd.70037. 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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