Members of the the Louisiana House Joint Budget Committee scrutinized the Department of Health over insufficient dental insurance coverage at a hearing, according to a Sept. 20 report by The Center Square.
The health department wanted to extend the state's Medicaid contract with DentaQuest but the committee voted to defer the extension until October, asking for additional data.
According to the committee, many Louisiana residents have to drive at least 60 miles to find a dental practice where DentaQuest will cover services.
Last year, the state legislature renewed the contract with DentaQuest but there were still similar concerns.
Rep. Tony Bacala said that many dental practices in Louisiana opted to not provide services with DentaQuest because the insurer was rejecting a large number of claims, causing the network of Medicaid dentists to decrease.
MCNA, another firm that Louisiana contracts with, provided twice as many dental visits as DentaQuest, Mr. Bacala said.
Kim Sullivan, the director of Medicaid for the Louisiana Health Department, said that DentaQuest has improved their network bandwidth and does not have any outstanding noncompliance issues, the report said.