Local Dentist Fights Against Cuts to Medi-Cal

A Los Angeles dentist who serves many of the county’s underprivileged is warning that recent cuts to Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rates by the Department of Health Care Services may discourage dentists from accepting those patients.

Dentistry Today featured Dr. Jerry L. Lanier, DDS, owner of Kids Dental Kare. He has several offices throughout the county, including Lynwood and El Monte and operates a 25-foot mobile unit dental screening van that providing free screenings.

According to the article, dental providers for Medicaid in the state of California are coping with a 10 percent reduction of reimbursement, effective as of Sept. 5.

Lanier is founder and owner of one of the largest Medicaid Pediatric Dental Organizations in Californiawww.kidsdentalkare.com, according to the article. He has been fighting against the cuts, citing this might even bankrupt some families.

He is trying to rally the community into contacting their local representatives to stop the cuts and has created a website where he asks people to sign up for information on the issue. www.SaveDenticalKids.com

Earlier this year, a judge cleared the way ruling for the cuts to take place by siding with the state and against a coalition of medical groups that sued to stop them.

The cuts came just as an influx of people prepare to enroll in the program under the Affordable Care Act, many experts point out.

Currently 8.3 million poor Californians are covered by Medi-Cal, and more than 1 million new enrollees are expected beginning next year, according to a Los Angeles Times story.

The decrease is necessary to keep healthcare spending under control, state officials told LA Times. The reductions target physicians, dentists, clinics, pharmacists and hospital-based nursing facilities, according to the article.

Dentistry Today, the Los Angeles Times and California Healthlinehas details on the issue.