Does anyone know how or if the new healthcare law will affect dentists? My children are on my state medicaid program until I start working at my permanent full-time job and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a dentist who is enrolled in the program. There are so many dentists in my area, but none of them take the medicaid insurance. I understand that the reimbursement rates aren't as high as those under private insurance, but I disagree with the basic idea that the margin of profitability is the appropriate overriding concern for a medical provider in regard to every patient they see and/or every service he or she provides. I am hoping that the new law will either make it easier for, or require, more dentists to be enrolled.
I would not count on it. Dental Plans in general are crummy e cept for a few. Only cli ifs here will take Medicaid.
Would you like it if a law required you to lose money for providing your labor to others?
Unfortunately for you the new laws will pay even less which means there will be less dentists taking medicaid.
No law can compel a doctor to operate at a loss which is why so few dentists take medicaid. It is their choice.
Sorry but I am having trouble getting past your statement that margin of profitability shouldn't be the overriding concern. It is not an issue of profit, it is a loss issue. For every medicaid patient they take they are taking a LOSS! So if you have slim profits on the private side how many losses can you take?
Do you really want dentist to be required to take Medicare patients?
I sympathize that you can not find a dentist but telling dentists that they must take certain patients and what their fee will be is just wrong.
Once you are working, how would you like it if you are making $30 /hr but you are forced to do your job and only make $10/hr one day a week to make the widgets you are selling more affordable to certain people?
You're kidding me right? About the "making it easier" portion - requiring dentists to accept it....
Dentists (oral care) is not a huge piece of the over 2,600 page "legislation". You would have to go to the 0bamacare website...sorry - the PPACA
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr3590/text
and find out.
This states that medicaid will be expanded...(that's why the $715B will taken out of the federal budget that people were in a tizzy over).
http://www.1dental.com/articles/dental/dental-coverage-in...
By reading this second link...you have nothing to worry about - your children are under 21 and still covered.
Good luck.
Maybe just try calling your local Medicaid office.
The Dentists probably don't even know.
The Medicaid office would also know, what Dentists are on the plan or not, or have a list.
It will/does not apply to dentists. Which is a good thing because most dental insurance isn't worth having anyway.
I have had good dental insurance before and it didn't cover anything that costs much. If I needed much work done it cost nearly as much as it would without the insurance. SO keep her on the state plan as long as possible.
Call the phone number on the card and get a list. Then call each of those dentists. We take our grandkids 125 miles away to the most wonderful pediatric dentist I have ever known. He's great.
We found him through Ocean Dental. My granddaughter fell at her mom's and broke her front tooth off. She went to sleep, woke up with a new tooth, and was never in distress or unhappy.
He takes the state medical card and most insurance. It just takes sitting down and going over that list until you find one that will take you. They get so swamped with appointments that sometimes they just can't see any more patients.
Check out the ADA site:
http://www.ada.org/news/7670.aspx
It gives a little info but it seems kind of vague to me.
I had a hard time finding a dentist too. I once took my husband to one that I found and I never took him back because that Dr was very insensitive to my husband's fear of dentists. So then I traveled an hour south to a dentist and they told me I had no cavity, but I did. I have since found a great dentist that my kids and I love (still working on the husband to go). I drive an hour to go to him since we only have to go 2 times a year. http://www.drskreko.com/
