Floridians share stories of struggles in dental health crisis / Public News Service

By listing dental care as the top unmet health care need in Florida, a group is helping Floridians share their stories and challenges in getting that care, hoping to raise awareness of the issue.

This online forum features a collection of stories from around the state, including a Broward County woman who said she was constantly getting infections and taking antibiotics during pregnancy because she couldn’t afford dental care.

Karen Bonsignori, director of communications for the American Children’s Campaign, said her group and Floridians for Dental Access are using the stories to dive deeper into the data behind Florida’s oral health problems.

“There is a mother who has fought for 10 years to get her children to see a dentist. This is absolutely unacceptable,” she said. “There is another story of a man whose teeth are rotting out of his head.”

Bonsinori said all of these stories are collected, analyzed and shared, in person or online, to educate others about what she called “Florida’s oral health crisis.” In 2020, less than half of Medicaid beneficiaries younger than 20 received preventive dental care, including annual exams. In Florida, about two-thirds of children enrolled in Medicaid lost these services.

To add your story or read more about others, the website is floridiansfordentalaccess.org.

According to a workforce survey by the Florida Department of Health, nearly eight in 10 dentists in Florida said they did not accept Medicaid patients. Bonsinori said she believes many people are not fully aware of the magnitude of the health care issue facing the state.

“I think anyone who thinks Florida has a handle on solving the oral health crisis is really out of touch with the experiences of everyday Floridians,” she said.

She added that their main concern is the high cost of dental care, followed closely by limited access to services. Most dentists operate within private practices, with less than 5% working in publicly funded dental offices and community clinics, according to the State Dental Health Workforce Survey.

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A Connecticut group has developed a new plan to strengthen health equity in the state.

Connecticut Health Foundation’s strategic plan addresses several goals, from expanding health care coverage and developing health equity infrastructure to improving maternal health for people of color.

While part of the plan relies on community efforts, Tiffany Donelson, the foundation’s president and CEO, outlined some of the legislative work to come.

“We hope to get the Cover Connecticut expansion or the Medicaid expansion, again,” she said, “to cover and ensure that anyone who is 200% of the poverty level or below has access to health insurance.”

Earlier this year, Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation to strengthen and improve health care affordability. The new laws expand the state’s ban on facility fees, create a drug discount card program and provide increased price transparency for high-cost drugs.

Donelson said the biggest challenge for the General Assembly to implement these policies will be having the money to do so.

In developing the new strategic plan, Donelson said there are some past goals the group still hopes to accomplish. One in particular is making sure that undocumented people up to the age of 18 have access to health insurance.

“We’re really hoping we can get coverage up to age 18 to start,” she said, “and then we’ll also work with our attorneys to think about what additional coverage is needed across the state. Or what is the future population, after 18?”

A survey by the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut found that 57% of residents support expanding the state’s Medicaid program to all immigrants.

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and health professionals say more and more young women are being diagnosed with the cancer.

About one in eight women will be diagnosed in her lifetime, but survival rates are high if the cancer is caught early.

Dr. Monika Wells, an internal medicine specialist with Kaiser Permanente, said 50 is a popular age for people to start getting screened for cancer.

“If you sample individuals even among my patient population, they think about 50 is the time they need to start getting mammograms,” Wells said. “But what we’re doing is, we want to move the needle on this and have those conversations earlier.”

About one in eleven new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women younger than 45. There are more than 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

Wells said it may be a good idea for some women to start the screening process at age 40.

“If we can identify who we can screen earlier and find those early cases,” Wells said, “we have a potential decade head start on cancer treatment.”

When breast cancer is caught at its earliest stage, the five-year survival rate is 99%. Wells said that’s another reason why screening women at a younger age is important.

“Early detection,” Wells said, “when we find those cancers that are in their early stages, opens up a whole spectrum of treatment options that may not be as available or may be more complicated if it’s a more advanced cancer. advanced.”

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Wisconsin lawmakers are in the middle of their fall session, and they face renewed calls to pass a plan to help new mothers with limited resources maintain health coverage.

Over the past few years, the federal government has opened more pathways for states to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for up to 12 months. So far, 45 states and Washington, DC have either implemented the full extension or are in the process of doing so. Wisconsin is one of only two states that require a more limited approach.

Sen. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, is a co-sponsor of a bill on full 12-month coverage, saying the current 90-day plan awaiting federal approval is helpful but doesn’t go far enough in providing sustainability.

“What we’ve seen is with new mothers when they have to switch to find other coverage,” Ballweg noted. “They’re losing the care provider they had during their pregnancy.”

She noted that they should then try for a new provider who should be aware of any chronic health conditions they are dealing with. Health experts said this contributes to racial disparities in the country’s maternal mortality rate. The bill has cleared the state Senate with bipartisan support, and its sponsors are hopeful about its chances in the Assembly. However, some skeptics worry about higher eligibility thresholds.

Supporters said a full extension could help reduce overall health care costs by establishing better outcomes for new mothers and their babies.

Annmae Minichiello, clinical pharmacist for UW Health, said the time to wait is over with emerging research about higher cardiovascular risks for pregnant women.

“Routine doctor visits, blood pressure management,” Minichiello described. “All of those things could really catch a lot of patients who would otherwise go under the radar.”

Minichiello, also a volunteer with the American Heart Association, added that she knows the importance of coverage after developing a rare form of heart failure after the birth of her daughter. In research published this year, the Heart Association noted that women who have high blood pressure before pregnancy may be twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

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