Strategies to Enhance Dentists’ Participation in Medicaid

In 2016, Missouri Foundation for Health – Oral Health initiative commissioned an analysis of the national oral health landscape to investigate which policy levers (e.g., Medicaid reimbursement rate increases, changes to the Medicaid administrative requirements, and/or other strategies) have had an impact on increasing the number of private dentists who participate in Medicaid and provide oral health services to previously underserved dental patients. The investigation undertaken was designed to assess what specific approaches increase the rate of participation of dentists in Medicaid and what impact an enhanced participation rate has on both increasing the number of Medicaid enrollees receiving care and the number of services received by individual enrollees.