U.S. Senate nears crucial Medicaid vote

Adult dental Medicaid benefits in many states may hang on a vote the U.S. Senate is expected to cast this week.

As part of the federal stimulus package last year, Congress increased federal Medicaid payments, and in March both chambers passed bills to continue this program, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), which will otherwise expire in December.

Thirty-three states included the increased federal money in their Medicaid budgets. But differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill led the two chambers to reconsider the measure, and on May 27 the House struck the FMAP payments from its new version because of concerns about the federal deficit.

The Senate is expected to take up the question again this week. If it goes along with the House, states that expected the increased Medicaid money will have to cut their budgets. Since dental benefits for adults are not mandatory under federal Medicaid terms, some analysts expect the states to reduce or eliminate them.

Several other states, including California, have already sliced away their dental Medicaid benefits for adults, even before the reduction in federal payments.

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