The difficulty of accessing dental care
Despite its public program to help residents access oral health care, there are still huge hurdles to overcome in Wisconsin.
In 2021, Wisconsin increased the reimbursement rate to 40% with the goal of inspiring more dentists to accept Medicaid beneficiaries, but the rate adjustments weren’t enough to cover the additional costs.
Thus far, Wisconsin has seen success at improving dental care and dental access with five new laws designed to bolster the dental workforce, funding to expand training programs for dental assistants and hygienists and scholarships from the Wisconsin Dental Association to support dental students who decide to provide care in underserved regions.
Further, the Wisconsin Dental Association’s new Dental Savings Club — which launched in June — can offer significant discounts of up to 55% on dental care for individual and family members who pay a respective annual fee of $48 or $108. As of August, 275 dentists have signed up to participate in the program.
The experts concluded that approaches such as providing alternative student loan repayment programs and diversifying the dental workforce may be effective at improving oral health care in Wisconsin.
Read more: The Cap Times
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