The recent passage of California’s budget resulted in the loss of Medi-Cal “optional benefits” effective July 1, a $129.4 million spending cut designed to reduce California’s budget deficit. “Optional benefits” include adult dental benefits, optometry, opticians and optical labs, audiology, podiatry, speech therapy, psychology services, chiropractic care and acupuncture. A significant loss is dental coverage for adult Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
In Santa Cruz County, the major providers of Medi-Cal dental services are Salud Para La Gente and Dientes Community Dental Care.
Salud provides comprehensive primary care, including medical, dental, optometric and elder day care to the medically uninsured and underserved populations in the area, primarily Santa Cruz County and North Monterey County. Dientes focuses exclusively on providing comprehensive, high quality dental care for the uninsured and publicly insured individuals living in and around Santa Cruz County, with services that include endodontics (root canal treatment) and pediatric dentistry. Together, Dientes and Salud had over 41,700 dental patient encounters in calendar year 2008.
The Health Improvement Partnership (“HIP”), a Santa Cruz countywide collaborative of leading public and private health care organizations and providers, joins with Dientes and Salud in opposing cuts to Medi-Cal dental benefits. HIP members recognize that dental disease is linked to higher risk for pre-term births, heart disease, stroke and diabetes and as such, that dental care cannot be considered merely “optional.”
Without Medi-Cal reimbursement monies, Dientes and Salud will be unable to provide dental care to some of the most vulnerable Californians. The loss of optional benefits will likely impact more than 20,000 adult Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Santa Cruz County alone, and some 2.8 million beneficiaries statewide impacting the elderly, the disabled, low-income workers and unemployed families.
Without Medi-Cal adult dental benefits, provider organizations will lay off dentists, dental assistants, office and support staff. The ripple effect of losing these “optional” benefits will be widespread and long lasting.
On May 19, Californians will vote on six ballot propositions designed to increase State revenue and avoid an even deeper deficit and more budget cuts. Estimates are that if all propositions pass the budget deficit will be “reduced” to $8 billion; if the propositions fail, the deficit will be $14 billion. If all propositions pass it would be possible to restore Medi-Cal optional benefits.
The California Primary Care Association has filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court to stop the July 1 elimination of Medi-Cal optional benefits.
To restore Medi-Cal optional benefits contact the Governor and these legislators:
- Governor Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver: (916) 445-2841
- Senators Joe Simitian: (831) 425-0401 and Abel Maldonado (831) 657-6315
- Assembly members Bill Monning (831) 425-1503 and Anna Caballero (831) 759-8676
- For further information, at Dientes contact Will Hahn (831) 464-5420; at Salud contact Sara Clarenbach (831) 728-8250
Will Hahn, Dientes Executive Director, received his M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management and comes from a health care consulting and management background.
Sara Clarenbach is Salud Para La Gente’s Director of Advocacy, Community Engagement and Media Relations. Bilingual and bi-literate in English and Spanish, she practiced law in Santa Cruz County from 1974 through 2008 before joining Salud.