ER, Dental Care and Medicaid

I recommend reading an article published in today's Sun Sentinel titled "More patients turning to ERs for dental care" summarizing the findings of a study by the Florida Oral Health Coalition which found that more than 115,000 people went to the hospital last year for dental care that could have been prevented or done at a much lower cost in a dentist's office. That's up 9 percent since 2008. More than 15,500 of them were children. ERs charged $88 million for that dental care last year — $30 million to Florida's state-federal Medicaid program , the study found. Hospitals not reimbursed for the care likely pass on the cost to other patients through higher charges. The reliance on ERs for tooth care was even heavier in South Florida, with the number of ER visits up 32 percent in Broward County since 2008. To tackle the problem, the group suggests expanding services that can be offered by dental hygienists, raising Medicaid payments to attract more dentists, having Medicaid cover adult dental care, and expanding county health department dental clinics. But the recommendations would require more tax money at a time when state officials are trying to shrink the Medicaid budget.

Florida Medicaid Pilot

On Thursday the federal officials agreed to extend Florida's five-county Medicaid managed-care experiment to 2014 but required the state to make significant improvements to the program. They include the denial of the medical-loss-ratio waiver requiring the participating private health plans to spend 85 percent of funds on patient care and the denial to cap benefit levels for Medicaid beneficiaries preventing the termination of Medicaid services because recipients had already met their $500,000 maximum for the year. These requirements will protect patients from arbitrary insurance service denials and will force private health insurance plans to manage taxpayers dollars efficiently and responsibly. Meanwhile, we should continue to oppose any expansion of the pilot project UNLESS the State of Florida can provide solid and indisputable data that the pilot project improves access and enhances the quality of care for all  Medicaid enrollees. So far I have not found any evidence to substantiate Governor Scott's claim that "we've seen higher quality in administration of care, produced cost savings and consumers in the pilot have found improved access for Medicaid recipients." Looking forward to your feedback. Yours Bernd For more information see: http://htpolitics.com/2011/12/15/feds-make-key-decisions-on-medicaid-and-health-insurance-for-floridians http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/12/what-is-changing-in-florida-medicaid-maybe.html