Thursday, August 03, 2006
The number of poor kids getting dental care plunged 40 percent in the first year of a Medicaid pilot project in Miami-Dade, according to a study released this month by the University of Florida.
The program was planned to get better about 200,000 children's access to dental care, reduce scam and contain costs by moving them from standard fee-for-service to a health protection organization. The HMO is run by a Coral Gables firm, Atlantic Dental, and dentists are paid about $4.25 a month per child for all basic treatment.
But in its first year, only 22 percent of qualified Medicaid kids made a trip to the dentist, the report said, compared to 37 percent under the old fee-for-service program. The report also found fewer dentists took part in the new program; their disappointment was high and the services they provided appeared to be worth less than what the state paid them.
The program was planned to get better about 200,000 children's access to dental care, reduce scam and contain costs by moving them from standard fee-for-service to a health protection organization. The HMO is run by a Coral Gables firm, Atlantic Dental, and dentists are paid about $4.25 a month per child for all basic treatment.
But in its first year, only 22 percent of qualified Medicaid kids made a trip to the dentist, the report said, compared to 37 percent under the old fee-for-service program. The report also found fewer dentists took part in the new program; their disappointment was high and the services they provided appeared to be worth less than what the state paid them.
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