Insights Column

5 Reasons We Are Celebrating CHIP’s 10- Year Extension this National Children’s Dental Health Month!

Along with celebrating Black History Month, Valentine’s Day and the Lunar New Year this February we are also elevating kids' oral health for National Children’s Dental Health Month! There is a lot...

Public Supports Better Insurance Coverage for Dental Care, Survey Finds

Mouths matter—that is the finding in a national survey on public support for dental coverage. More than 80 percent of people who were asked said they supported providing publicly-funded dental ca...

In Cynical Move, Kentucky Governor Bevin Cuts Vision and Dental Care to Retaliate Against Court’s Medicaid Ruling

Suppose you wanted to help a homeless veteran find a job, but the vet had some sore teeth and needed glasses. Wouldn’t it make sense to cover the oral health and vision care to help him? That won...

Federal Government Could Make Children’s Oral Health Insurance More Affordable

Oral health care is vital to a child’s overall health. This summer, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed a change in the rules for financial assistance in the health insurance marketplace that, if...

Repeal and Replace Could Reverse Progress on Oral Health

Former U.S. surgeon generals refer to oral disease as a “silent epidemic” affecting some of our most vulnerable citizens. People who lack coverage for oral health care are likely to forego prev...

Medicare Should Pay for Oral Health Care That Is Necessary to Manage Serious Illnesses

Oral health is an important part of overall health for everyone – but it can be crucially important to someone who is fighting a serious condition, such as kidney failure, an autoimmune disease, can...

Oral Health Coverage Boosted in Some State Budgets, Lessons for 2018

This year, several states passed budgets that expand oral health coverage for adults in Medicaid. Expanding this coverage goes a long way to improving overall health, making oral health care more ac...

Oral Health Lands on Advocates’ Agendas Across the Nation

Even as health care has become a politically charged issue this year, we’ve seen oral health advocates work diligently and some states make progress to improve oral health benefits in their Medicaid...

Medicaid Cuts Limit Access to Oral Health Care

Congressional proposals to cut and cap Medicaid will put enormous pressure on states to cut services – and will make it nearly impossible for states that now have gaps in their coverage to ever catc...

Troubling Trends for Oral Health in Medicaid Waivers

The following blog post was co-written by Eliot Fishman and Colin Reusch. Fishman is Senior Director of Health Policy at Families USA, a leading national voice for health care consumers dedicated t...