Coloradans without dental insurance on the rise

The number of Coloradans without dental insurance grew to 2.1 million in 2011 from 1.8 million in 2009, according to a new Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) report -- a 17% increase from the 2008-2009 survey.

The survey is a program of the Colorado Trust and is administered as a random-sample telephone survey of more than 10,000 Colorado households, with the findings representative of all Coloradans.

More than 2.5 times as many Coloradans were without dental insurance than were without health insurance in 2011, according to the organization.

The problem is even more pronounced among Hispanics, 53% of whom reported that they lack dental insurance, an increase from 48% in 2008-2009. In addition, Hispanic Coloradans lack dental insurance at a higher rate than white (39.1%) and black (29.9%) Coloradans.

Of Coloradans with dental insurance, 77% visited a dental professional, compared with 45% of Coloradans without dental insurance. Yet cost can still be a factor even for those with insurance. The percentage of all Coloradans who received dental services fell from 66% in 2009 to 63% in 2011. The CHAS found that it was not only uninsured Coloradans that decreased their use of dental services, but insured Coloradans as well. Nearly 1 in 4 Coloradans reported they did not receive needed dental care due to cost, and 37% of this group had dental insurance. Fewer individuals in rural areas reported visiting a dentist than those in more urban areas of the state.

One improvement was in children's coverage: An additional 66,300 children (ages 0-18) had dental insurance in 2011 compared with 2008-2009. However, fewer children actually visited a dental professional during the same period. Many of these additional children are covered by Medicaid, which does not have an adequate number of participating dental providers, especially in the rural areas of the state, according to the Colorado Trust.

Other findings:

• The age group most frequently reporting a lack of dental insurance was adults age 65 and older.
• Lower-income Coloradans lack dental insurance at a higher rate than those with higher incomes .
• Uninsured Coloradans with low incomes did not seek dental care as often as uninsured Coloradans with higher incomes.

The CHAS report suggests several policy implications for addressing the decrease in access to oral healthcare, including increased access to dental insurance, better benefit packages for dental insurance, and expanding the oral health workforce, especially in rural areas.