CMS Collaborative Workshop, October 2010

On October 7, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sponsored a State and Federal collaborative workshop to discuss the proposed strategy for improving access to and utilization of oral health care services for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Current data (as reported on the CMS-416 reports for Federal Fiscal Year 2008) shows that an average of only 34% of Medicaid clients received a preventive dental service despite considerable progress in pediatric oral health care in the recent years.

State Dental Directors, Medicaid Directors, and CHIP Directors attending this five-hour workshop had the opportunity to discuss concerns, suggestions and strategies directly with CMS central and regional staff to help make this oral health initiative achieve the desired outcomes to help improve low income children’s access to dental care.

Two national oral health goals toward which the states will be working are:

• Increasing the rate of low income children and adolescents who are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP who received any preventive dental services by 10 percentage points over a five-year period; and
• Increase, by 10 percentage points over five years, the rate of low income children and adolescents ages 6-9 enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP who receive a dental sealant on a permanent molar tooth (to be phased in).

The workshop included information on developing messages for low- and moderate-income parents from focus groups that were held in four cities around the country. This information can help state policy makers understand the feelings about dental care, the importance parents place on having dental coverage for their children, parents’ knowledge of oral health and reactions to oral health facts and messages.

The workshop also included highlights of promising practices from Alabama, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

A second collaborative workshop will be held on November 10, 2010, following the NASMD Annual Fall Conference, for those states who did not attend the October workshop.