Last month, a 12-year-old boy in a neighboring Maryland suburb had an aching tooth. Earlier this week, he died. The medical cause, the Washington Post reports, was bacteria from the abscess that had spread to his brain. The underlying cause: His family had lost their Medicaid coverage (apparently as the result of eligibility paperwork being sent to the homeless shelter where the family had recently -- but no longer -- resided) coupled with the difficulty of finding a dentist willing to accept Medicaid patients.
Overshadowed in the debate about SCHIP and universal health care are the sobering statistics on access to dental care for low-income children: According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, two-thirds of Maryland children enrolled in Medicaid did not see a dentist in 2005. What's more, because of low reimbursement rates and bureaucratic paperwork, only 900 of the state's 5,500 dental providers are willing to treat Medicaid patients--never mind those without any coverage. The National Conference of State Legislatures' Web site offers a wealth of additional material on this topic.
Postponing my son's dental care was foolish -- and I learned a lesson. Delaying (in effect, denying) Deamonte Driver's dental care was fatal -- and we should all learn a lesson.
