Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Results of the state's dental HMO experiment for children on Medicaid are in, but they don't show if the fresh approach is enhanced than the old. That's unacceptable. The project was to perk up access to dental care for 200,000 Miami-Dade children on Medicaid, dipping fraud and state costs in the process. The idea was to switch them to HMO coverage in 2004 and away from standard fee-for-service Medicaid.
Now, a University of Florida study reports worrying results for the pilot's first year, which ended in June 2005. It establishes the number of poor children seeing a dentist dropped 40 percent. Only 27,000 children got dental care, a drop of 35,500 from the previous year under the old program. Also, children received only $2.1 million in dental services as the state paid $15.3 million to Atlantic Dental, the HMO running the pilot.
Now, a University of Florida study reports worrying results for the pilot's first year, which ended in June 2005. It establishes the number of poor children seeing a dentist dropped 40 percent. Only 27,000 children got dental care, a drop of 35,500 from the previous year under the old program. Also, children received only $2.1 million in dental services as the state paid $15.3 million to Atlantic Dental, the HMO running the pilot.
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