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LATEST NEWS
October 1, 2007
SCHIP Reauthorization: Comparison of Dental Provisions in House, Senate and Compromise Bills (pdf)
The House of Representatives and Senate have passed the bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization agreement, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA). Significant dental provisions were provided in CHIPRA and will be compared and contrasted with the dental provisions included in the initial House and Senate bills in the information below. In this chart, legislative language is shown in italics. (click here for more...)
September 26, 2007
CDHP News Release: House and Senate Agree Access to Dental Care is Essential for Children’s Health (pdf)
Dental care for children emerged as a key priority for the House and Senate during negotiations over the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The House and Senate late yesterday released their conference agreement that provides health coverage for millions of American children. The agreement also provides a stable dental benefit for SCHIP eligible children for the first time along with provisions that support early visits to the dentist, quality dental care, and improved access. (click here for more...)
August 7, 2007
House and Senate SCHIP Reauthorization: Comparison of Dental Provisions
On July 31, 2007 the House of Representatives passed the Child Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP) which would reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for five years (SCHIP expires September 30). The next day, the Senate passed the Child Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. Within the more than 700 pages of legislation created by these two bills are a number of provisions important to children’s dental coverage, quality of dental care, and access to dental services. This brief compares and contrasts the dental provisions in the two bills. Legislative language is shown in italics.
July 13, 2007
Washington Post editorial asks "Remember Deamonte?"
Congress prepares to reauthorize SCHIP, and the Post fears there won't be a dental benefit in the children's insurance program, in spite of what we've learned from Deamonte Driver.
June 18, 2007
New York Times prints Burt Edelstein's response to editorial on underserved children's gap in dental access.
"This problem will be solved when states abide by federal Medicaid law, when more employers provide dependent dental coverage, when dentists reach out to children with the greatest needs, and when policy makers ensure that our nation’s future dental capacity is robust enough to meet our needs."
Read the letter.
Read the editorial.
(may require subscription)
June 12, 2007
New York Times Editorial Explores Underserved Children's Gap in Dental Access
Columnist Bob Herbert discusses the broader social implications of Deamonte Driver's death, stating "American children are dying because of a lack of access to health care, and we're worried about Mitt Romney's religion and asking candidates to raise their hands to show whether they believe in evolution."
Read The Divide in Caring for Our Kids
(may require subscription)
May 1, 2007
CDC Study Finds Dental Health Among Young
Children Worsening (pdf)
“[CDC's] findings that one-quarter of young children have cavities once again verifies that tooth decay remains the single most common chronic disease of childhood in the US. Trends among young children are both worsening and worrisome
because so many parents have trouble finding dental care for their young children,” said Children’s Dental Health Project Board Chairman, Professor Burton Edelstein of Columbia University. (click here for more...)
March 6, 2007
An Open Letter on Children's Oral Health
It is impossible to adequately express our dismay, frustration and sympathy over the tragic loss of 12 year-old Deamonte Driver, who died February 25th in the shadows of Capitol Hill from the sequelae of an abscessed tooth.
The real tragedy is that dental disease is overwhelmingly preventable.
No one group or person is to blame for this occurrence, but at this point, we - the government, the dental profession, the medical profession, the social service system, parents and care-givers, and the educational system - need to learn from this tragedy and come together to make sure no child suffers unnecessarily from ordinary, preventable dental problems.
For 10 years, the Children's Dental Health Project has been committed to improving access to dental care and strengthening prevention programs. CDHP has developed and promoted policies, designed research, created messages and managed programs. Our efforts, and those of others similarly committed, have led to some successes. We have seen that public insurance programs for children - for prevention and treatment - can be made to work. However, much remains to be done. We at CDHP stand ready to work with the Federal Government, states and our many partners to provide an array of solutions to fix the system problems that end up hurting, rather than helping, children.
That this tragedy occurred during the last days of Children's Dental Health Month should serve as a reminder to us all that we remain far from the goal of assured dental health for all children. May we celebrate Children's Dental Health Month next February with clear evidence that we are succeeding in our quest for health care that works for America's children.
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February 2007
Parent Information for Children's Dental Health Month
January 2007
Successful State Medicaid Dental Reforms
While many state Medicaid dental programs have remained stagnant and ineffective in assuring access for low-income children, a few states have instituted remarkable reforms that have increased both dentist participation and dental access for child beneficiaries.
With support from Greater Hartford Legal Aid and CDHP, Don Schneider, DDS MPH (former Chief Dental Officer at the federal Medicaid agency) has developed summaries describing Medicaid innovations in six states. These reports explain what each state did to improve access and how much improvement they obtained through reform. We acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of State dental Medicaid program officials in compiling these reports. Click here for reports on innovation successes in:
DELAWARE (pdf)
INDIANA (pdf)
MICHIGAN (pdf)
SOUTH CAROLINA (pdf)
TENNESSEE (pdf)
VIRGINIA (pdf)
January 2007
2007 Ushers in a new Federal Appeals Court ruling on EPSDT
2007 started out with a new and disappointing Federal Appeals Court decision on Medicaid EPSDT (click here for the full ruling) (pdf). On January 3rd the US Court of Appeals (10th District in OK) reversed a lower Court and made the following determinations:
1. The state “did not violate the ‘reasonable promptness’ requirement by … allowing system-wide delays in treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries...”
2. The state “did not violate the ‘reasonable promptness’ requirement by ….paying providers insufficient rates for services rendered to Medicaid beneficiaries...”
3. The state is not required to directly provide specified medical (including dental) services under Medicaid EPSDT but only to pay for care.
4. Individuals covered by Medicaid have no “private right of action” (a determination that is consistent with its earlier and controversial decision in 2006.)
As part of our “New Medicaid Initiative,” CDHP will continue to track this decision and will provide additional information as appropriate. In context, this finding is consistent with recent changes in Medicaid - like those enacted by the Deficit Reduction Act - that continue to constrain EPSDT’s unique strengths. We believe that this trend requires children’s oral health activists and dental care providers to propose and pursue new approaches to dental care for low income kids that fit the new environment.
January 2007
Implications for Children's Dental Medicaid Policy in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (pdf)
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) made sweeping changes within the Medicaid program, many of which were previously only possible through a federally approved waiver. Many of the original tenets of the Medicaid program were discarded in DRA by providing the opportunity to eliminate such standards as "statewideness" and "comparability." Building on previous DRA briefs issued by the Children's Dental Health Project this brief, excerpted from a technical analysis of the law, details the implications of these reforms for children's dental health policy. (click here for more...)
December 2006
SCHIP Coverage Critical to Dental Access, According to New Study (pdf)
A study published in the October issue of Pediatrics found that access to dental care appears to have nationally improved for children with family incomes consistent with SCHIP eligibility during the program's first six years. (click here for more...)
December 2006
CDHP Legislative Alert: Final Actions of the 109th Congress (pdf)
The 109th Congress adjourned on December 9th after last minute compromises on numerous issues. Medicaid and SCHIP fixes were thrown in the mix of negotiations and may provide some insight into priorities and strategies for the 110th Congress that will begin in January. (click here for more...)
November 2006
New Study Ties Children that Lack Dental Coverage to Significant Unmet Needs
(pdf)
For the first time since 1998 the percentage of children without health coverage has increased according to the most recent Census data. In 2005, there were more than nine million uninsured children in the U.S. - one-out-of-every nine children in the country. A September 2006 report (No Shelter from the Storm: America's Uninsured Children) released by the Campaign for Children's Health Care looked at the impact of the lack of insurance on children's access to care. The findings show children with the greatest unmet dental needs are those without continuous health care coverage.
(click here for more...)
November 2006
State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): A Decade of Optional Dental Coverage for Kids
(pdf)
Because Congress only authorized SCHIP for 10 years, it requires reauthorization in 2007. Congressional leaders will be looking to the successes and failures of SCHIP to identify modifications. In an effort to prepare dental advocates for this process, this brief provides information on SCHIP dental performance to date.
(click here for more...)
August 2006 (revised from June 2006)
What New CMS Guidance on DRA Means to Children's Dental Care (pdf)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency responsible for implementing the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), has released guidance on the new Medicaid provisions. Three Medicaid changes of particular interest to the dental community are citizenship verification requirements, alternative benefit packages, and cost sharing options. This brief provides details on recently released CMS guidance on these three issues to assist children's oral health advocates in working with their states.
(click here for more...)
August 2006
Medicaid innovators are paving the way for new state changes in dental Medicaid (pdf)
The current momentum to modernize Medicaid may be catching on in the states. What does this mean for children's access to dental services? It isn't completely clear yet, but trends are emerging from the early adopters and those in the planning phase. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released guidance for Medicaid Transformation grants to states. The grants, authorized by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), are available to assist states to, "fund research and design ways to transform their Medicaid systems and to increase the quality and efficiency of care." This federal funding gives states the financial incentive to investigate new strategies for serving Medicaid populations.
(click here for more...)
June 2006
Keeping Up with Medicaid Changes in States: A Guide for Child Oral Health Advocates (pdf)
Recent changes made by Congress through DRA have shifted many Medicaid options that previously would only have been available as a waiver to be an option through a State Plan Amendment. These changes provide less oversight by state legislatures, as many states require approval for a waiver application and fewer need legislature clearance for an SPA. This shift may also change the opportunity for public comment. Staying informed about the process for Medicaid changes and seeking out opportunities to comment on these changes is critical for dental providers to influence policy decisions that shape access to dental care for vulnerable children.
(click here for more...)
Children's Dental Health Project
2001 L Street, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Phone (202) 833-8288
Fax (202) 318-0667
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