Immediate Calls Needed to Protect Medicaid Dental Coverage as Governor and Legislative Leaders Negotiate Final Budget
Thanks to all your testimony, calls, e-mails and letters to key committees of the General Assembly and to your local legislators, the Appropriations Committee budget did not include Governor Rell's proposals to cut dental services in Medicaid. It restored non-emergency dental services to adults and did not call for prior authorization for all non-emergency dental services (children and adults).
However, the threat to dental remains very real unless our elected leaders hear from us loudly, clearly, and continuously that dental care is too important and fundamental to be cut. Read on to find out why.
Since the Appropriations budget passed, state revenue has fallen further and the Governor has renewed her call for dental cuts - this time to begin May 1st as part of a new round of current year budget reductions. Intensive budget negotiations between the Governor and legislative leaders are now underway.
We must call Governor Rell and key legislative leaders NOW with these messages:
1) Please make sure that access to basic dental care for children and adults in Medicaid is preserved in Connecticut's currrent and future budgets:
Do not reduce or eliminate basic dental services to adults in Medicaid.
Do not impose burdensome prior authorization requirements on basic dental services to children or adults in Medicaid. This would discourage providers from serving Medicaid patients and be difficult and expensive for DSS to administer.
3) These proposals are costly. They are penny wise and pound foolish.
4) Increased federal matching monies for Medicaid should preserve current dental coverage. Dental care must remain part of the basic health safety net just as the mouth cannot be separated from the body.
5) I am willing to pay slightly higher taxes to preserve the healthcare safety net for our most vulnerable residents.
Do not wait. Contact Governor Rell at 1-800-406-1527
(or e-mail her at governor.rell@ct.gov).
Please also call or e-mail as many of the following legislative leaders as you can. It doesn't matter if you live in their district or not. But, if you do, mention it and ask others in your community to call also.
Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams
860-240-8600 or 1-800-842-1420
williams@senatedems.ct.gov
Speaker of the House Representative Chris Donovan
860-240-8500 or 1-800-842-1902
christopher.donovan@cga.ct.gov
Appropriations Committee Co-Chairs:
Deputy President Pro Tempore Senator Toni Harp
(New Haven, West Haven)
860-240-0393 or 1-800-842-1420
harp@senatedems.ct.gov
Representative John Geragosian (New Britain)
860-240-0394 or 1-800-842-8267
john.geragosian@cga.ct.gov
Senate Minority Leader Senator John McKinney (Newtown, Easton, Weston, Fairfield)
860-240-8805 or 1-800-842-1421
john.mckinney@cga.ct.gov
House Majority Leader Representative Denise Merrill
(Chaplin, Mansfield)
860-240-8500 or 1-800-842-8267
denise.merrill@cga.ct.gov
House Republican Leader Larry Cafero (Norwalk)
860-240-8700 or 1-800-842-1423
e-mail form to Rep. Cafero
Please forward this alert (see bottom of page) to everyone within
your networks immediately and ask them to contact the Governor and key
legislators.
Please copy COHI on your e-mails to legislators and let
us know who you
and your members
call so we can keep track for reporting purposes.
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Connecticut Oral Health Coalition
Fights to Protect Access to Dental Services
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If the Governor's proposals move forward, the number of people seeking free dental care at Missions of Mercy in the future will be many multiples
of th e 1,100 or so who lined up each day last Friday and Saturday for free urgent or emergency dental services provided through volunteers and donations.
This year, the annual, two-day Mission of Mercy was in New Haven.
While dedicated providers such as COHI President Dr. Howard Mark worked hard inside the building, COHI and partners in the CT Oral Health Coalition were there very early each morning talking to people outside about the Governor's proposed cuts. Those lined up were a diverse group and were eager to sign postcards to Governor Rell and legislators asking them to preserve services.
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Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI)
175 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860-246-2644 - Phone
860-246-7744 - Fax
info@ctoralhealth.org
COHI is a broad-based coalition dedicated to
promoting oral health through increased
awareness of its importance and access to quality health services. |
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