Oral Health

Oral health is an important but often overlooked part of health and health coverage. Inadequate access to oral health services is a persistent problem for low-income populations, but states have developed innovative strategies to address it. NASHP’s work highlights how oral health intersects with Medicaid coverage, ACA marketplaces, and state strategies to improve health and reduce costs.
State Medicaid and CHIP programs are required to cover children’s dental services – and children’s access to care has been improving in recent years as a result of state efforts – but coverage for adults is optional. This can lead individuals to turn to costly emergency rooms for preventable dental problems; these visits may result in up to $2 billion in spending annually. Moreover, the effects of poor oral health are not limited to the mouth – studies have associated oral diseases with systemic health conditions like diabetes.
The resources available in this section include briefs, reports, and case studies that explore how oral health fits into states’ broader coverage health strategies, on topics including: Medicaid benefit design and reimbursement strategies to increase access to care; Affordable Care Act provisions related to pediatric and adult dental coverage through health insurance marketplaces; ways that oral health can help states work toward their goals of improving health, improving care, and reducing costs; and strategies for broadening the oral health workforce and integrating oral health and primary care.