Medicaid and Children’s Dental Care – Utah

Will privatizing Medicaid’s dental program hurt Utah kids?, By Jennifer Dobner, July 10, 2013, Salt Lake Tribune: “Laura Privett is worried about the future of her children’s very expensive mouths. Her eldest, 16-year-old Wade, got his first filling before he turned 4. Her youngest, 6-year-old Kayden, was born with a partial cleft lip and had his first dental x-rays at five days old. He’s already had cranial facial surgery, six fillings and six caps. His jaw is so overcrowded with aching teeth that sometimes he can’t eat. ‘If it wasn’t for Medicaid, my kids would not have access to those dental services,’ the Kearns mother said. The care the Privetts rely on may change under a state plan to hire private managed care organizations to run the Medicaid dental program. Utah pediatric dentists fear the move will mean less access to care for children and smaller payments for dentists…”