Dentists: Cutbacks in Public Money, Private Demand
Two stories about dentists published this month offer a revealing glimpse of the ongoing struggle of many Americans to access much-needed health care amid the economic downturn. I hope you'll check out both for some fresh ideas on how to cover dental health in your community.
In the Sacramento, Calif. region, dentists are experiencing a 25 to 30 percent drop in their business as cash-strapped patients postpone dental care, Anne Gonzales reports for the Sacramento Bee.
Douglas Lott sees it in the faces of many young people sitting in his Sacramento dentist's chair.
"I have more people unable to pay for treatment," Lott said. "The hardest hit are the younger kids, who don't have a steady job, or insurance, or are in college. When you tell them they need a root canal or crown for $2,500, they have a look on their face like it's not real."
But Sacramento's double-digit jobless rate and bleak economic conditions are all too real, and they're affecting dentists along with their patients. Like many small businesses, Sacramento area dental practices are getting drilled by the economy, state budget cuts and insurance plan changes.
You can say what you want about whether dentists charge too much for their services (and many of the commenters do), but Gonzales' story is particularly compelling when read in context of Christina Jewett's reporting for California Watch on how California health officials are demanding that community clinics give back their Medicaid reimbursements for dental work performed earlier in the year.
Providers were warned that they might have to return the money as the state battled legal challenges to push through its planned cuts in dental services for the state's Medicaid patients, Jewett writes. And yet:
"We can't take money from a dentist's paycheck, take dental supplies back or get part of our light bill back," said Jennette Lawrence Shea, director of government and community relations for Family Health Centers of San Diego. "It puts all of the burden on community clinics, and that's just not right. We're the safety net, here to help the most vulnerable. We're struggling to do that with all of these cuts."
Lawrence Shea said the clinic provided 5,300 dental visits from October to May at sites throughout San Diego County and expects to be on the hook for about $850,000.
The stakes are so high: witness Mary Otto's heart-breaking reporting on a Washington, D.C.-area child who died from an untreated tooth infection and her follow-up coverage of dental access in the region. With many low-income or uninsured Americans – particularly children – in desperate need of dental care, stories about how the current economic climate and government cutbacks are reducing access to dental care for people from all walks of life are low-hanging fruit in your community. Go pick 'em.
Reporting Resources:
The State of Children's Dental Health, 2011: a report from the Pew Center on the States
Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations: 2011 Consensus Report from the Institute of Medicine
Dental Disease – "Silent Epidemic": An online resource guide from Center for Health Journalism Digital
Photo credit: Sam Pullara via Flickr