Post by Logan on Feb 18, 2016 3:56:58 GMT -6
Jack Klure has been working as a dentist for 40 years, half of those in the Boise area. He sees 30 to 40 paying customers a week who have private health insurance or pay cash.
But he and other Idaho dentists say they have given up on seeing Medicaid patients — a group that includes many Idaho children — because the government health insurance doesn’t pay enough, so they are pushing for higher reimbursement rates.
The state’s Medicaid reimbursement rate to dentists is slightly below the national average. As a percentage of the dentists’ full-price fee, reimbursements have decreased about 25 percent over the past 10 years, according to the American Dental Association.
That is driving down the number of dentists who are willing to take Medicaid patients, according to Linda Swanstrom, executive director of the Idaho State Dental Association.
Read more here: www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/health-care/article60846467.html
But he and other Idaho dentists say they have given up on seeing Medicaid patients — a group that includes many Idaho children — because the government health insurance doesn’t pay enough, so they are pushing for higher reimbursement rates.
The state’s Medicaid reimbursement rate to dentists is slightly below the national average. As a percentage of the dentists’ full-price fee, reimbursements have decreased about 25 percent over the past 10 years, according to the American Dental Association.
That is driving down the number of dentists who are willing to take Medicaid patients, according to Linda Swanstrom, executive director of the Idaho State Dental Association.
Read more here: www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/health-care/article60846467.html