IOM maps out access-to-care goals; does Medicaid boost kids' dental visits?

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Despite ongoing efforts to ensure adequate oral healthcare for all Americans, access to these services continues to elude many underserved populations, including ethnic minorities, people with special needs, older adults, pregnant women, and those with lower socioeconomic status, according to a report released today by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Noting that opportunities exist in both the public and private sectors to reduce barriers to care, the report includes a number of recommendations for U.S. policymakers that the IOM believes can help reverse this trend once and for all. Read more in this latest Practice Management Community feature.

Among the IOM's recommendations: Increase Medicaid reimbursement rates. In line with this, a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that, between 2000 and 2008, children in states with higher Medicaid reimbursement rates received more dental care than those in states with lower payment rates.

And the U.S. government is hoping affordable insurance exchanges -- a key component of the healthcare reform act -- will make it easier for families to afford medical and dental services. The Department of Health and Human Services this week announced its framework for helping states set up these exchanges, with a deadline of 2014.

Finally, in Restoratives Community news, a team of Japanese scientists revealed this week that they have used mouse stem cells to create teeth and have successfully transplanted them into the lower jaws of mice, enabling the rodents to chew normally. Read more.