Dentists Do Not Give Preference to Children on Medicaid

A recent insight has revealed that dentists avoid giving appointments to children  in the combined Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program. Joanna Bisgaier, MSW, from the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and team intended to check out the influence of insurance status on dentists’ keenness to allot an appointment for children.

Their research revealed that only  36.5% of Medicaid/CHIP beneficiaries were  given an appointment as against .95.4% of privately insured Blue Cross children. Further, the research showed that medicaid/CHIP beneficiaries were 18.2 times more likely to be refused an  appointment compared to the Blue Cross children

Researchers said,"Illinois dentists, including those participating in Medicaid, are less likely to see a child for an urgent dental complaint if the child has public versus private dental coverage. These results have implications for developing policies that improve access to oral health care."



Source-Medindia