In 2010, Connecticut rated an "A" for improving children's dental health over a 10-year period. But 10 years previous, it was reported that 71% of Connecticut children enrolled in HUSKY A (Healthcare for UninSured Kids and Youth), the state’s Medicaid program for low-income families, received no dental visit.* What changed during those ten years?

1. The Impact of Increased Dental Reimbursement Rates
on Children Enrolled in Medicaid
Helping Children Get Access to Dental Care - Key Findings and Recommendations

2. The Consequences of Not Going to the Dentist
Well-established research illustrates
the consequences of inadequate
access to basic dental care for
children:
• More oral disease,
• More dental pain and infection,
• More days lost from school.

3. Connecticut’s Pediatric Dental Health
In 2001, it was reported that 71% of
Connecticut children enrolled in
HUSKY A (Healthcare for UninSured
Kids and Youth), the state’s Medicaid
program for low-income families,
received no dental visit.*
But in 2010, Connecticut rated an “A”
for improving children’s dental health
over a 10-year period.**
What changed?
* http://www.cthealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Oral-Health-Report-2001.pdf
** http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/Cost_of_Delay_web.pdf

4. Inadequate Access to Basic Dental Care
Historically, children enrolled in
HUSKY A have had difficulty
accessing dental care due, in large
part, to:
• Low Medicaid reimbursement rates
that discouraged private providers
from program participation
• Cumbersome Medicaid
administration

5. The Impact of Changes
Based on a 2008 lawsuit settlement
agreement, program administration
improved and reimbursement rates
increased, moving closer to private
insurance rates.
Image or Chart
What was the impact of these
changes on utilization rates and
private dentist participation?

6. Making Progress
• Twice as many low-income children
received dental treatment in 2011
compared with 2006.
• Private provider participation more
than doubled between 2006 and
2010. Image or Chart
• An increase in services utilized was
seen in nearly all 169 towns, but
especially in the 10 cities with the
highest populations of children
enrolled in HUSKY A.

7. Cities with the Greatest Need
The ten cities with the highest concentration of HUSKY A children have the greatest
need for dental services. In 2011, the utilization rates for continuously enrolled
children averaged 70 percent across these cities, a rate higher than that of privately
insured children. Those cities are:
• Hartford • New Haven
• New Britain • Meriden
• East Hartford • Waterbury
• New London • Windham
• Bridgeport • Norwich

8. Participation from Dentists
The strong response of private
dentists is most likely the result of
increased Medicaid reimbursement
rates.
The positive collaboration between Image or Chart
advocates, the Department of Social
Services, and the Connecticut State
Dental Association, and the
contributions of Medicaid program
administrative improvements, have
also added to the increase in private
dentist participation.

9. Recommendations to Maintain this Participation
To ensure that low-income children continue to
have access to oral health services, action is
required:
• HUSKY A reimbursement rates must be
increased periodically to offset the
increasing cost of providing dental services.
Image or Chart
• HUSKY A dental program administration
and management must continue to be
streamlined to encourage private dentist
participation.

10. Learn More
Read our brief, Impact of Increased Dental Reimbursement Rates on
HUSKY A-Insured Children: 2006 – 2011.