 Oral Health Issue Brief Released
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT released its latest Issue Brief - Access to Oral Health Care for Children in Rhode Island - during an event at the Rhode Island Foundation on September 12, 2011. The Brief is a new comprehensive source for data on oral health care for children in Rhode Island. It includes an overview of dental health coverage for children with Medicaid/RIte Smiles, a description of dental services available and recommendations for increasing access. Read the news release or the related Providence Journal or Providence Business News articles.
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RIte Smiles Celebrates 5 Years
RIte Smiles, Rhode Island's Medicaid oral health program for children under age 11, celebrated its 5th birthday on September 1, 2011. The program currently has more than 55,000 children up to age 11 enrolled. Since RIte Smiles began, children are getting to the dentist more and the number of preventive visits has increased according to the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
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New Report Grades States on Access to Dental Care
June 1, 2011: According to a recent report by the Pew Center on the States, more than 16 million children in the United States still lack access to basic dental care. The State of Children’s Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter report graded states' ability to serve insured and soon-to-be insured children. In the face of major budget shortfalls, 22 states were able to raise their 2010 grades, proving that dental health policies can be improved at a relatively low cost.
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 Oral Health Check Up
May 13, 2010: The nation continues to struggle with adequate access to and utilization of dental services. This is particularly true for low-income individuals who experience more than twice the amount of untreated dental disease as their higher-income peers. This issue brief reviews sources of dental coverage for low-income chilren and families and the challenges these programs face. Access Oral Health Check Up: Progress in Tough Fiscal Times?
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 Rhode Island is a National Leader in Addressing Children's Dental Health Needs
February 23, 2010: Rhode Island meets 6 of 8 policy benchmarks aimed at addressing children's dental health needs, making the state a national leader in addressing children's oral health, and earning the grade of "A" from the Pew Center on the States. The report specifically highlights the success fo Rhode Island's RIte Smiles program. The report also looks at 8 benchmarks of which Rhode Island meets 6- including the scope of dental sealant programs, regulations allowing dental hygienists to place sealants, fluoridated water systems, access to dental care for children enrolled in Medicaid, payment of medical providers for early preventive dental health care, and data tracking on children's dental health. Click here for the full report, or access a one-page factsheet featuring Rhode Island's rating.
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 Rhode Island Oral Health Commission Kick-Off
January 21, 2010: The Rhode Island Oral Health Commission, co-chaired by Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts and Jill Beckwith, policy analyst at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, held a Kick-Off Meeting on January 11, 2010 to review progress and prioritize future goals. Over the past decade, the Commission has worked to increase access to oral health services for children, adults and the elderly through the creation of the RIte Smiles dental benefits manager for children under age 10 enrolled in RIte Care; expand Rhode Island dental safety net capacity, and increase training opportunities for the dental workforce. If you or your organization would like to join the Oral Health Commission, contact Jill at jbeckwith@rikidscount.org, or (401) 351-9400.
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 Rhode Island Ranks 6th Nationally in Dental Access for Children with Medicaid
November 16, 2009: According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Rhode Island ranks 6th in the nation for the percentage of children under age 21 who received dental services. Rhode Island's participation rate in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2008 was 46%, up from 38% in FFY 2006. The increase is attributed to RIte Smiles, a program started for young children insured through Medicaid in 2006. Since it's inception, RIte Smiles has increased the number of participating dentists from 27 to approximately 175 dentists across 269 access points. Click here to view a press release on the report.
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 Oral Health Coverage and Care for Low-Income Children
April 27, 2009: Tooth decay is the most common chronic condition among children. The Kaiser Commission for Medicaid and the Uninsured has just posted on its website a policy brief entitled Oral Health Coverage and Care for Low-Income Children: The Role of Medicaid and CHIP. The brief provides an overview of oral health care access and coverage for low-income children. Click here to access the report.
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 New Report on Access to Dental Care in Rhode Island
March 10, 2009: The National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP) has released a new report on access to dental care which includes a section devoted to Rhode Island's RIte Smiles Program. The report details the history and outcomes of the RIte Smiles program, with a specific focus on outcomes for young children's dental health. Read the full text of Increasing Access to Dental Care in Medicaid: Targeted Programs for Four Populations .
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 New Oral Health Web Site from American Academy of Pediatrics
February 17, 2009: The American Academy of Pediatrics has launched a newly designed Oral Health Web site, which adds enhanced features such as state listings and resource pages specifically for practicing clinicians, professionals in training, and families. View their Rhode Island resource page or view the oral health website homepage here.
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 Dental Disease Still Major Problem for Children in Medicaid
January 27, 2009: The preliminary findings of a recent GAO report find that dental disease and inadequate reciept of dental care remain significant problems for children in Medicaid. One in three children age 2-18 in Medicaid has untreated tooth decay, an estimated 6.5 million children. The report found that younger children, age 2 through 5, experience higher rates of dental disease compared to earlier surveys. Access the GAO report here.
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 State Laws on Dental Screening for School-Age Children
January 27, 2009: Consequences of dental disease take a toll on children, their families, and communities State laws that require or provide dental screening, examination, or assessment for school entry provide strategies that address the oral health burden of among US school children. This edition of Emerging Issues in Oral Health: State Laws on Dental Screening for School Age Children examines the effectivness of these types of policies.The document also contains a summary of these policies in effect throughout the country.
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 Treating Underserved Dental Patients
August 13, 2008 - A new guide from the California HealthCare Foundation outlines the necessary techniques and tools for clinics to increase their payment revenues and expand their capacity to treat low-income and uninsured patients. A companion issue brief focuses on the specific barriers faced by California's Federally Qualified Health Centers in expanding dental services. The authors conducted in-depth interviews at six clinics with low to moderate volumes of dental patients and developed a set of recommendations to help community providers overcome these impediments, improve productivity, and increase capacity.
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 Reports Released at Capitol Hill Briefing on Dental Health
August 6, 2008 - Foundation's Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) and the Alliance for Health Reform cosponsored a July 25 Capitol Hill briefing to examine oral health in the broader conversation of improving quality and expanding access. Three new reports from KCMU were released at the event:
 Access to Affordable Dental Care: Gaps for Low-Income Adults, which finds that both dental coverage and access to care are limited for low-income adults and that even low-income adults with dental coverage are not getting sufficient levels of needed dental care.
Filling an Urgent Need: Improving Children’s Access to Dental Care in Medicaid and SCHIP, a summary of a discussion with oral health experts and their recommendations for state policies related to children’s access to oral health care. Dental Coverage And Care For Low-Income Children: The Role Of Medicaid And SCHIP, a fact sheet.
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 2008 Report on Key National Indicators of Child Well-Being Available Online
July 14, 2008 - The newly released America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008 profiles the status of the nation's children and youth, presenting up-to-date federal statistics on a variety of issues in one convenient reference. According to the report, in 2006, only 76% of children ages 2–17 had a dental visit in the past year. Read more about oral health in the report.
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 KIDS COUNT Advocates for Increase in Access to Dental Care for Low-income Children
April 13, 2008 - Rhode Island KIDS COUNT offered its strong support for House Bill 7879, sponsored by Representative Handy, which would increase access to dental care for low-income children and elderly nursing home residents in its testimony to the House Finance Committee.
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Fact Sheet Provides an Overview of Role of Medicaid's and SCHIP's in Dental Coverage and Care for Low-Income Children
A fact sheet from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured provides an overview of dental care access and coverage for low-income children through Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which are major sources of dental coverage for millions of low-income children.
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