Many states are expanding their Medicaid programs to provide dental care
A growing number of states are offering dental care to low-income adults who once had to rely on charity or the emergency room to treat their tooth problems
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For months, Carlton Clemons endured crippling pain from a rotting wisdom tooth. He couldn’t sleep, barely ate and relied on painkillers to get by.
The 67-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, could not afford to see a dentist on the $1,300-a-month his family gets in Social Security and disability payments. So he waited for the state to roll out a program this year that offers dental care to the more than 650,000 Medicaid recipients like him who are 21 and older. Tennessee is spending about $75 million annually on the program.
“Man, I thought I had made it to heaven because the pain was over,” he said after the tooth was pulled in July at the Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry. “When they did pull it out, I was so happy. I was so glad. Everything just changed after that.”
His wife, Cindy, who also is on Medicaid, has had her teeth pulled at the clinic.
Medicaid, the federal and state health insurance program for the poor, requires states to provide dental coverage for children but not adults. But with a growing recognition of the economic and health costs of poor dental health and an influx of federal pandemic dollars, six states began or expanded their Medicaid programs this year to provide coverage for adults.
Access remains difficult in many of those states with some dentists refusing to treat Medicaid patients. Even those who want to expand their practice are finding themselves caught up in red tape.
Dr. Victor Wu, the chief medical officer for Tennessee’s Medicaid program, said he was pleased with the rollout of Medicaid dental benefits
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