A healthcare executive is warning that cuts to Medicaid funding from the federal government could lead states to roll back their dental coverage, the CommonWealth Beacon reported May 21.
The House of Representatives passed its budget bill that includes cuts to Medicaid May 22.
Michael Curry, the president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, told the CommonWealth Beacon that states could choose to no longer cover dental services under Medicaid because these are optional benefits.
“Oral health under Medicaid is an optional program,” he said. “States like Massachusetts could choose to not cover oral health, which means that that’s an implication for health centers [which also provide dental care], because now our patients couldn’t go and get coverage or care, then have their insurance provide the health center with reimbursement for their oral health.”
