The New Hampshire legislature has passed a bill to bring diagnostic and preventive dental coverage for adult Medicaid patients, nhpr, an NPR affiliate, reported May 16. Gov. Chris Sununu has indicated he will sign the bill into law, which would go into effect in April 2023, according to nhpr.
Six things to know:
1. Senate Bill 422 would expand care for about 85,000 residents in the state, one of about a dozen states that do not cover preventive dental care for Medicaid recipients.
2. The covered services would include annual oral exams, imaging, crowns, bridges and oral surgery. Dentures would be covered only for Medicaid recipients with developmental disabilities, acquired brain disorders and those in the Choices for Independence program, a Medicaid-funded service program that includes the elderly and people with chronic illness or disabilities.
3. The new benefits would have no cap on benefits or copays for preventive services. Other services would be capped at $1,500 a year and require an as-yet unspecified copay for patients whose household incomes are above 100 percent of the federal poverty level.
4. The new benefits are expected to cost the state about $7.5 million or less a year.
5. The next challenge would be for the state to recruit enough dentists to accept Medicaid patients, according to Gail Brown, director of the New Hampshire Oral Health Coalition, a nonprofit that seeks to extend the dental safety net.
6. Dentists have raised concerns about low reimbursement rates and appointment no-shows for patients who don't have transportation or paid time off from work.