State Called to Build ‘Bridge to Healthy Smiles’Friday, March 06, 2009
The Urban Coaster
by James Ginderske
An often criticized failing of the American Health System is
its treatment of dental and oral health care issues. In Illinois, the
problem is compounded by an underfunded Medicaid reimbursement system,
along with access to dental care, which is often linked exclusively to
ability to pay.
Dental care as a sub-specialty is something of a medical
oddity. While undeniably a component of the greater health care system,
dental care is treated as a distinct category by both government and
private insurance plans. This results in entirely different rate
structures and coverage limits, and critics say, also prevents
meaningful integration of oral health issues into holistic health
planning.
For many, dentistry is a straightforward equation: either
one can afford to pay and can obtain care, or not, in which case the
options rapidly become very limited. While the cost of preventive care
is usually inexpensive, costs can quickly balloon if restorative care
is needed.
Coupled with the fact that often the recognition of the need for
expensive intervention is accompanied by extreme pain and discomfort,
it’s little wonder that many patients select the only options
realistically left to them – various pain relief schemes, “dealing with
it,” and ultimately extractions.
A movement is underway in Illinois that seeks to address
these issues, hoping for the first time in years to fundamentally
increase the level of dental resources available to patients in
underserved areas throughout the State, of which Rogers Park is one.
The effort, called the “Bridge to Healthy Smiles Campaign,” is being
billed as a long overdue and pragmatic series of steps to improve local
access while dealing with structural issues that affect dental care
statewide.
The campaign includes three components:
- Open ten new dental clinics to bring dental care to the 60 percent
of the State’s counties (including Cook) currently classified as
underserved.
- Fund the existing “Loan Repayment Assistance Act,” and further
establish incentives to encourage new dentists to practice in
underserved areas in exchange for student loan forgiveness. (The
average new dentist now leaves school with $160,000 in outstanding
loans.)
- Raise the State’s Medicaid Reimbursement Rate, currently one of the
lowest in the nation, from 46 percent of costs to 64 percent to
incentivize dentists to accept All Kids and Medicaid-insured patients.
Locally, an aggressive effort has been mounted by a
coalition of organizations to assess the need in Rogers Park for
additional oral health services, should the opportunity to obtain new
resources become available.
The group, the Rogers Park Oral Health Care Advisory
Committee, includes Howard Area Community Center, Heartland Alliance,
Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park, Rogers Park Community Council,
Loyola University, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, and Erie
Family Health Center. The group is moving swiftly to complete a
substantial survey component as part of their research.
“If you don’t quantify the need, you make it easy for
politicians and other policy makers to ignore the problem,” said one
surveyor, who wanted to remain anonymous. “But once you demonstrate the
extent of a crisis you can begin to talk about how to address it.”
The total cost of the combined measures is estimated at $94
million. Proponents argue that historically not tying increases in
dental reimbursements to other medical reimbursement adjustments has
resulted in an environment that forces dentists who treat
medicaid-eligible patients to operate at a substantial, and often
unsustainable economic loss.
The situation was made worse in 2002 when the Illinois
General Assembly cut dental reimbursements by 7 percent to balance that
year’s budget.
The movement is steadily gaining steam among various
grass-roots organizations and local governments. As of March 1, a total
of nineteen different groups have joined the Bridge to Healthy Smiles
campaign.
A press conference was held on February 2, 2009 by the
Illinois Faith Based Association, along with Illinois State
Representative Elizabeth Hernandez (the Bill’s sponsor) and Rep. David
Miller, DDS in support of the Bridge to Healthy Smiles initiative. Also
present were two parents, Dominique Johnson and Susan Krawcyk, who
explained the harsh impact the current limitations have had on their
children.
Association President Reverend Walter Turner made a firm
commitment to the initiative, saying: “Oral health care affects
children and adults across this state in a way that can have life-long
consequences.
We witness and hear about devastating stories from families
who have nowhere to turn. We can no longer afford to be a victim of
inaction in Springfield so we will continue this campaign until our
voices are heard and there is equitable dental care for all.”
Information on this legislation can be found on the website
www.bridgetohealthysmiles.com. For more information about the Rogers
Park Oral Health Care Advisory Committee, contact Monica Dillon at
(773) 262-6622, ext. 108.
