Study Results from University of California Update Understanding of Dentistry (Medicaid Dental Coverage Alone May Not Lower Rates Of Dental Emergency…

Study Results from University of California Update Understanding of Dentistry (Medicaid Dental Coverage Alone May Not Lower Rates Of Dental Emergency Department Visits)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators publish new report on Dentistry. According to news reporting originating in San Francisco, California, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Medicaid was expanded to millions of individuals under the Affordable Care Act, but many states do not provide dental coverage for adults under their Medicaid programs. In the absence of dental coverage, patients may resort to costly emergency department (ED) visits for dental conditions."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of California, "Medicaid coverage of dental benefits could help ease the burden on the ED, but ED use for dental conditions might remain a problem in areas with a scarcity of dentists. We examined county-level rates of ED visits for nontraumatic dental conditions in twenty-nine states in 2010 in relation to dental provider density and Medicaid coverage of nonemergency dental services. Higher density of dental providers was associated with lower rates of dental ED visits by patients with Medicaid in rural counties but not in urban counties, where most dental ED visits occurred. County-level Medicaid-funded dental ED visit rates were lower in states where Medicaid covered nonemergency dental services than in other states, although this difference was not significant after other factors were adjusted for."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Providing dental coverage alone might not reduce Medicaid-funded dental ED visits if patients do not have access to dental providers."

For more information on this research see: Medicaid Dental Coverage Alone May Not Lower Rates Of Dental Emergency Department Visits. Health Affairs, 2015;34(8):1349-1357. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting K.R. Fingar, University of California, Emergency Med, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States. Additional authors for this research include M.W. Smith, S. Davies, K.M. McDonald, C. Stocks and M.C. Raven.

Keywords for this news article include: Medicaid, Dentistry, California, San Francisco, United States, Health Policy, North and Central America,

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2015, NewsRx LLC