Tuesday, May 23, 2006
WAILUKU - Indigent Maui County residents might be smiling if they're able to take advantage of a new state dental service program to kick off in July.
Human Services Director Lillian Koller said the new program is being established in part because of the lobbying efforts of Maui residents who complained about the lack of contact to dental care on island.
Koller, along with Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino, appeared before the Governor's Maui Council of Advisors during a three-hour meeting Thursday at the Cameron Center auditorium.
A crowd of some 60 people attended, most of who were adults in a mental illness services program who had pleaded to the governor's council for help in accessing dental care. The problem stems back to 1997, when state budget-cutting measures stripped dental care from the federal/state-funded Medicaid program for individuals 22 years and older. Medicaid would cover dental services only for those with serious dental emergencies.
Most Maui dentists declined to accept Medicaid patients anyway as of the low reimbursements for treatment.
Human Services Director Lillian Koller said the new program is being established in part because of the lobbying efforts of Maui residents who complained about the lack of contact to dental care on island.
Koller, along with Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino, appeared before the Governor's Maui Council of Advisors during a three-hour meeting Thursday at the Cameron Center auditorium.
A crowd of some 60 people attended, most of who were adults in a mental illness services program who had pleaded to the governor's council for help in accessing dental care. The problem stems back to 1997, when state budget-cutting measures stripped dental care from the federal/state-funded Medicaid program for individuals 22 years and older. Medicaid would cover dental services only for those with serious dental emergencies.
Most Maui dentists declined to accept Medicaid patients anyway as of the low reimbursements for treatment.
Koller reported to the governor's council on Thursday that she believed a new initiative called Prevent Adult Dental Decay would assist alleviate the problem.
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