Shifting dental care to the ER a costly political maneuver
Budget cuts to state dental care programs proposed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be a costly shift that will end up costing state taxpayers more, say inflamed
The governor has proposed eliminating dental care for adults receiving General Assistance, Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare, and the Critical Access Provider Payment Program, and replacing it with an ER care program on Jan. 1, 2010.
(That's right. Take your toothache or broken tooth to the emergency room. They have to take you.)
"Non-pregnant adults would continue to receive emergency dental care through hospital emergency departments for emergencies such as severe pain, trauma or infections," states the governor's budget proposal on page 102.
There's just one problem.
Hospital emergency rooms aren't set up as dentist's offices. They can supply patients with pain medications for tooth aches and antibiotics for dental infections but they don't extract teeth. "They can't actually perform dental procedures so there will be repeated visits," says Tom Day, director of legislative affairs for the Minnesota Dental Association (MDA).
"It's a short-term cut to make the budget work but it will significantly increase visits to the ER," Day said. "We are absolutely opposed to the cuts."
About 20,000 uninsured people visited emergency rooms for dental care in 2008, according to the MDA. About 7,400 of those dental-related ER visits were to
More on the national trends in dental care and ER visits:
A Healthy Blog: http://blog.hcfama.org/?p=2742
theagle.com: http://tinyurl.com/dj4wzn
Oregnlive.om http://tinyurl.com/dkqxd5
I'm sure this is welcome news to ER staff around the country. Maybe they need to organize and say "enough."
Tiny Tim won't be happy until MN healthcare is as wretched as TX. He's a Christian dontcha know. A good Christian ought to be able to identify the poor on sight by the gaps in their teeth.
But I also have to say that good dental care isn't affordable for a lot of people. Too many dentists are doing cosmetic care and too few are providing essential services.
April 21, 2009 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree it's not just the poor. Lots of people are putting off dental care because it's just so expensive and most employer plans pay just a portion of the bill.
April 21, 2009 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
KS,
I am sorry I missed this post because I AM THEE CASE for better access to dental care.
When I was little I was give a LOT of an antibiotic (a tera or a tetra... cant remember which) and my teeth are terrible. Because of this I have no enamel on my teeth and they "flake".
And because I am a big teeth grinder they flake real fast I have tried to keep up but have
finally decided that I have been throwing what little good money I have after bad teeth. I have now started to save the $3-$4k just to get some cheap dentures.
As you seem to know much about this, I welcome any suggestions or tips you could offer.
April 25, 2009 6:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
You published a diary, hours ago, with tomorrow's date!
April 21, 2009 8:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
which I wrote last night. Sigh. It's hard getting used to new tools. But TPM isn't new to me. I remember years ago when it was simply Talking Points Memo. Great to see the growth over the years!
April 21, 2009 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the obvious result of Republican election stratagies of No New Taxes. Now States will not have enough to provide services critical to their citizens. Effective June 1, dental care will no longer be made available to people on Medi-Cal in California at the same time, we are closing emergency rooms at a record pace. A complete lack of concern for the poor seems to have become the political norm. Just one of the many areas Republicans have been successful in moving the debate (at the expense of the people)for their own political success.
April 22, 2009 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
This post is information for dental patient
its a informational post...
Thanks
Dental Care
September 7, 2009 8:23 AM | Reply | Permalink