A growing number of dentists in Kentucky are pulling out of the state’s Medicaid program due to low reimbursement rates, the Courier-Journal reported April 6.
Five notes:
1. More than 1.5 million Kentucky residents rely on Medicaid to receive dental care.
2. Kentucky has one of the lowest adult dental Medicaid reimbursement rates in the nation.
3. Because private insurers base their fee schedules on Medicaid rates, reimbursements from private insurers in Kentucky are also among the lowest in the nation.
4. The state also struggles with an aging workforce, with nearly half of all 3,237 dentists in the state being over the age of 50.
5. Several counties in the state have no dentists, while only two counties contain nearly half the state’s providers.