Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri is moving forward with plans to eliminate dental coverage for an estimated 38,000 parents enrolled in the RIte Care program as of July 1, according to a story in the Providence Journal.
Those under 21 and pregnant women are not included in the proposed cuts, which would save taxpayers $525,000, according to the governor's budget office. RIte Care is the state's Medicaid managed care program.
The planned cuts were submitted as part of Gov. Carcieri’s 2009-2010 budget.
But Rhode Island healthcare providers fear that cutting dental services for thousands in the state would do "irreversible damage" to the state's dental system designed to serve low-income residents, according to the article.
According to the Rhode Island Health Center Association, health centers -- which "have generally become the dental providers of last resort" because most private dentists do not accept Medicaid, the news story states -- served more than 31,000 adults in 2008, compared with fewer than 10,000 in 2003.
The proposed cuts still have to be reviewed and voted on by the state Legislature.
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