Survey: not enough dentists in Kansas accept Medicaid patients

August 3, 1999

SURVEY: NOT ENOUGH DENTISTS IN KANSAS ACCEPT MEDICAID PATIENTS

LAWRENCE -- The state's poorest children are eligible for Medicaid dental benefits but a new survey shows that few seek dental care and those who do discover too few dentists will accept their insurance.

For example, only 35 dentists serve half of the state's Medicaid recipients.

The University of Kansas Health Services Research Group surveyed the state's 1,200 dentists and KU's Institute for Public Policy and Business Research canvassed parents of children in the Medicaid program for the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund in Hutchinson.

The ministry financed the survey to determine what barriers to good dental services exist in the state, particularly for children who rely on Medicaid.

"Most only need a check-up," said Ray Davis, professor of public administration and health policy and management at KU and the principal author of the survey. "For children, poor preventative dental care can become a lifetime problem, so access is a very big issue."

Davis said dentists who didn't participate in Medicaid cited a full patient load and low reimbursement rate -- 50 percent -- as their reason. Dentists said the reimbursement rate was so low it meant they lost money on every Medicaid patient they saw, Davis said. Some dentists treat Medicaid patients but don't bother to seek reimbursement because of the low rate and paperwork, he said.

Despite the access problems, Medicaid participants who did receive dental care gave the dentists high marks in the survey, Davis said.

"It's primarily a problem of distribution of dentists around the state," said Virginia Elliott, program officer for the health ministry fund. "Very few dentists are serving most of the Medicaid population in Kansas."

The survey's findings include:

Less than 27 percent of the state's dentists participate in Medicaid, which offers benefits to more than 137,000 children in Kansas. However, only 39,800 children eligible for Medicaid sought dental care in 1998;
Thirty-one percent of Medicaid beneficiaries, primarily those living in rural areas, have problems accessing care. The problems range from a lack of available dentists to a lack of transportation;
Rural counties have 11.2 percent of the state's dentists but 15.8 percent of the population; the state's metropolitan areas have 64.8 percent of the state's dentists, but only 56 percent of the population. Only 18 percent of the state's dentists can be found in the state's sprawling First Congressional District, which covers two-thirds of the state and includes a quarter of the state's population.

Public meetings to discuss strategies to ensure access to dental care for all Kansas children will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 13 at Fort Hays State University in Hays and Aug. 27 at KU in Lawrence. The meetings are co-sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Dentists, dental hygienists, legislators, child advocates, government officials and other interested people are invited to attend.

"We hope we can work together to come up with some good ideas," Elliott said.

For more information or to register, call 1-877-SMILEKS (764-5357) or e-mail umhealth@southwind.net.

Contact: Todd Cohen, University Relations, at (785) 864-8858 or tcohen@ukans.edu

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