USA - In fluoridation mandated Illionis:NYSCOF

Posted Online: Posted online: March 11, 2007 7:26 PM
Print publication date: 03/12/2007
Few Illinois dental providers accept Medicaid
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By Stephanie Sievers, ssievers@qconline.com
SPRINGFIELD -- Many Medicaid patients have a hard time finding a doctor, but it can be almost impossible to find a dentist. Although the state's health care program for the poor and disabled also covers dental care, the number of dentists actually seeing Medicaid patients is small. Of the 8,000 dentists regularly working in Illinois, only 2,000, or about 25 percent, are enrolled in Illinois' Medicaid program. And only 10 percent of those actively see patients each month, says Greg Johnson, director of professional services for the Illinois State Dental Society.
Their argument for not taking Medicaid patients is much the same as physicians: low pay and slow pay from the state for the services they provide. Last year, Illinois began reimbursing dentists at near market rates for basic, preventative services such as cleanings, periodic exams, sealants and fluoride treatments.
But reimbursement rates for anything more complicated such as a filling or an extraction are still low, so low that Johnson says Illinois ranks near the bottom in the nation when it comes to dental Medicaid rates. No one has to tell Shelly Carder there's a problem.
The Whiteside County woman needs to have all of her teeth pulled but has been unable to find a local dentist willing to do it. They could do simple extractions, but Carder's teeth are cracked and broken and need to be removed surgically.
So Ms. Carder, who battles frequent infections, keeps looking. She heard that a clinic in Rockford might be able to do it, but that turned out to be a false lead.
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