The American Dental Association (ADA) Health Policy Institute (HPI) released an annual update on trends from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the National Health Interview Survey. This includes trends in dental care utilization, dental insurance coverage, and cost barriers. Data is broken down by population age, race/ethnicity, income level, and insurance type. Among the findings, only 40 percent of working-age adults had a dental visit. They also found that dental care continues to pose the highest cost barriers when compared to other health services such as medical, prescription drugs, and mental health.
Click here to review the trend updates.
HPI also released an update on Medicaid reimbursement for child and adult dental care services by state using data from state Medicaid fee schedules. The data table includes Medicaid fee-for-service reimbursement as a percentage of average dentist charge and as a percentage of average private dental insurance payment rates.