Our state legislators have acknowledged the importance of oral health by including some funding in their budget proposals to restore dental coverage for low-income adults. Urge legislators to approve the House level of funding, which fully restores dental coverage for Medicaid-insured adults, including essential procedures like fillings and root canals. Early dental care, such as…
The revenue forecast has been released and legislators are putting together their preliminary budgets. Now is the time to send a message to legislators: Click here for a simple tool to find your legislators and urge them to restore dental coverage for low-income adults. More than 450,000 Medicaid-eligible adults lost dental coverage due to state budget cuts…
As the legislative session continues, the drumbeat of support for adult dental benefits grows. Today the Tacoma News Tribune editorial board came out in support of the Legislature restoring dental coverage for 450,000 low-income adults. According to the TNT, “it’s now time to reverse” the “penny-wise decision” of legislators in 2011 to get rid of…
Awareness is growing across Washington of the plight of uninsured dental patients and the need for the Legislature to restore dental benefits for Medicaid-eligible adults in the legislative session that started this week. The decision by state lawmakers in 2011 to eliminate dental coverage for most low-income adults left 450,000 people without dental insurance. Many…
The American Diabetes Association of Washington and Arcora Foundation are teaming up on a statewide ad campaign to emphasize the importance of oral health for people with diabetes. There are more than 400,000 people with diabetes in Washington and nearly one million more have prediabetes. The goal of the ad campaign is to raise awareness…
A recent op-ed in the Everett Herald explores what happens when children and adults do not have adequate access to dental care. University of Washington physician Jo Jackson and Snohomish dentist Eve Rutherford write that Washington can’t afford to avoid paying for dental care for Medicaid-insured adults. “Poor oral health is expensive for families, for…
A recent Huffington Post story draws attention to the effects of a failure to provide dental care for low-income residents. Due to budget challenges many states, including Washington, have cut dental care coverage for Medicaid recipients. The story highlights Washington as an example of a state that no longer provides dental coverage to those in…