January 2007
Implications for Children's Dental Medicaid Policy in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (pdf)
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) made sweeping changes within the Medicaid program, many of which were previously only possible through a federally approved waiver. Many of the original tenets of the Medicaid program were discarded in DRA by providing the opportunity to eliminate such standards as "statewideness" and "comparability." Building on previous DRA briefs issued by the Children's Dental Health Project this brief, excerpted from a technical analysis of the law, details the implications of these reforms for children's dental health policy.
May 2006
Medicaid Flexibility in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: What Does It Mean for Children's Oral Health?
(pdf)
In February, President Bush signed into law the 2005 budget reconciliation bill entitled the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). Budget bills rarely raise much interest or seem relevant to the dental care of children. However decisions impacting children's access to dental care are many times determined in the budget process rather than through more traditional legislative activities. As the title implies, DRA includes numerous mechanisms for reducing the federal deficit, including providing states with new budget cutting "flexibilities options" in Medicaid.
May 2006
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: What Does It Mean For Children’s Dentists? (pdf)
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) includes a number of changes in Medicaid that are designed to cut program spending by $7 billion over the next five years. While making these cuts, Congress also stated its intention to keep the pediatric EPSDT benefit intact. This is important to dentists because EPSDT contains Medicaid's comprehensive dental benefit for children from birth to age 21. Putting the projected savings side-by-side with the guarantee of continued coverage raises the question for dentists: "How can Medicaid both cut costs by billions and still keep benefits unchanged?"
May 2006
What New CMS Guidance on DRA Means to Children's Dental Care (pdf)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency responsible for implementing the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), has released guidance on the new Medicaid provisions. Three Medicaid changes of particular interest to the dental community are citizenship verification requirements, alternative benefit packages, and cost sharing options. This brief provides details on recently released CMS guidance on these three issues to assist children's oral health advocates in working with their states.
May 2006
Medicaid innovators are paving the way for new state changes in dental Medicaid (pdf)
The current momentum to modernize Medicaid may be catching on in the states. What does this mean for children's access to dental services? It isn't completely clear yet, but trends are emerging from the early adopters and those in the planning phase. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released guidance for Medicaid Transformation grants to states. The grants, authorized by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), are available to assist states to, "fund research and design ways to transform their Medicaid systems and to increase the quality and efficiency of care." This federal funding gives states the financial incentive to investigate new strategies for serving Medicaid populations.
May 2006
Medicaid Flexibility in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: What Does It Mean for Children's Oral Health? (pdf)
In February, President Bush signed into law the 2005 budget reconciliation bill entitled the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). Budget bills rarely raise much interest or seem relevant to the dental care of children. However decisions impacting children's access to dental care are many times determined in the budget process rather than through more traditional legislative activities. As the title implies, DRA includes numerous mechanisms for reducing the federal deficit, including providing states with new budget cutting "flexibilities options" in Medicaid.
