Feds warn Minnesota: Improve kids’ dental care in Medicaid, By Glenn Howatt, May 1, 2017, Star Tribune: “Minnesota has been warned that its main government health insurance program risks losing federal funding if it doesn’t provide more preventive dental care to children. The problem is familiar to many families on Medical Assistance: Many dentists don’t accept new patients covered by the program because Minnesota pays some of the lowest dental reimbursement rates in the country…”
Tag: Minnesota
Driver’s License Suspensions – Minnesota
Unpaid traffic tickets — debt trap for the poor — in MN legislators’ sights, By Bill Salisbury, April 2, 2017, Pioneer Press: “For Carmen Mask, 2009 was a rough year. Mask and her husband divorced, her household income dropped from around $80,000 to $25,000 a year, and she and her three sons moved from their St. Paul house to an apartment. While moving in an old van her ex had left her, a police officer pulled her over and gave her a traffic ticket for driving with a broken tail light. He also told her that her insurance had expired. ‘I was really struggling at that time, and I forgot about the ticket,’ said Mask, 45, an employment counselor who now lives in Minnetonka and works in St. Paul. Soon another cop ticketed her for driving an uninsured vehicle. She couldn’t afford to pay the fine or the insurance, she said, and her driver’s license was suspended. Then a few weeks later, another officer stopped her and handed her a warrant for her arrest…”
County Health Rankings – Minnesota
Report: Child poverty, STDs, premature death on the rise, By Stephanie Dickrell, March 29, 2017, St. Cloud Times: “Child poverty and STDs are on the rise in Central Minnesota, according to a nationwide report released Wednesday. The County Health Rankings looks at health outcomes, health behaviors and access, as well as social, economic and environmental factors. ‘What the rankings show us is that where we live matters to our health,’ said Aliana Havrilla, a community coach for County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. ‘It’s an easy-to-use snapshot.’ The results for Central Minnesota are mixed, although in general, the region is doing better than the state and the country. There are plenty of areas to improve upon including smoking, obesity, excessive drinking and access to exercise opportunities…”