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Adults not taking advantage of KanCare dental coverage

bizjournals.com

Very few Kansans eligible for dental coverage offered under KanCare are taking advantage of the benefit reported Andy Marsco for the Kansas Health Institute

More than 130,000 have basic dental cleaning benefits, but only about 7,600 or 6 percent have used the coverage according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Ray Munoz is a coordinator at Douglas County Dental Clinic.  He says adults on KanCare might not know they now have insurance coverage for the cleanings.

“We do have to tell a lot of people that their coverage will cover certain things," said Munoz, whose clinic serves low-income and uninsured residents of Douglas County. "It doesn’t seem like they're aware of that before we tell them.”

The switch to managed care Medicaid is administered by three private companies:  Amerigroup, Sunflower State Health Plan (a division of Centene) and United HealthCare.

Denise Malecki is a spokeswoman for Amerigroup.  She says lack of awareness of the new coverage is a factor. The company has better rates of use for its children's dental coverage, she says, but "adult dental services are a new KanCare benefit, so many adult recipients, who have never had access before, may not know how to use the services."

Molly McMillen is a spokeswomen for United Healthcare.  She says her company works closely with medical providers to ensure Medicaid beneficiaries understand the importance of oral health.

"While we are pleased with utilization of the benefit, because dental health is so important to overall wellness, we continue to work with beneficiaries to help them not only understand but also participate in the dental programs available to them," McMillen says.

Kendra Davis works at the Douglas County Dental Clinic.  She says some KanCare clients who are aware of the new coverage can't take advantage of it.  Customers who have been without regular checkups for extended periods of time often need higher-level dental care like periodontal maintenance, scaling or debridement - services that are not covered - before they can receive a basic cleaning says Davis.  Consequently, the clinic can't order the covered services until a customer pays out of pocket to get caught up on years of higher-level dental care.

Malecki confirmed that some Amerigroup clients go to clinics for their cleaning only to "leave knowing that they need advance dental work and are unsure if they can afford it."