Improvement is Attributed to RIte Smiles
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has reported that Rhode Island ranked sixth (6th) in the nation for the percentage of children under age 21 who received dental services. Rhode Island’s rate of participation was 46 percent in FFY 2008, up from 38 percent in FFY 2006. Rhode Island’s rate for access to dental care for children was higher than all the New England states except for Vermont. Nationally, only 35 percent of children under age 21 on Medicaid had at least one dental service in the 2008.
The increase in Rhode Island’s overall rate can be attributed to RIte Smiles, a program started for young children on Medicaid in 2006. RIte Smiles was designed to increase access to dental services as a preventative health initiative to avoid more significant dental and other health problems later in life. RIte Smiles expanded the network of dental providers and encouraged dentists to begin seeing children as young as 12 months old for their first visit. In addition, Rhode Island now recommends a new dental screening for children on Medicaid at 12 months of age as part of its EPSDT Program (Early, Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment).
“Rhode Island is unique, in that, for years state officials, advocates and dental providers have been working together to create better access to dental services,” said Gary Alexander, Secretary of the RI Executive Office of Health and Human Services. “This is great news that children are getting access to dental care. It’s important that kids receive early dental care so that problems can be identified early and they can avoid unnecessary pain and disease that comes with untreated dental problems. And it saves the state money in the long run and provides for a healthier population.”
Recent Medicaid dental utilization data shows that the number of children under age 3 that received dental care increased by over 100 percent from 2007 to 2008. The 3-5 year old age group also saw an increase of 31 percent from 2007 to 2008. These improvements are attributed to children having greater access to dentists through the RIte Smiles Program. Currently, RIte Smiles provides dental care for over 42,000 Rhode Island children under the age of 9.
RIte Smiles has increased the number of participating dentists from 27 to approximately 175 dentists at 269 access points. This number includes dental specialists. The State contracts with UnitedHealthcare Dental to manage this benefit by paying claims, providing customer service and perform outreach to families to help them efficiently use their dental benefit. Additionally, they can help families identify a participating dentist close to their home.
For more information on RIte Smiles, please go to www.dhs.ri.gov under Dental Services, RIte Smiles.