Mo. standoff over funding of adult Medicaid dental benefits continues

Even after months of debate, Missouri lawmakers still can't settle the debate over how to fund the costs of a government-funded health plan that would provide dental care for almost 300,000 low-income adults in the state.

Funding is being blocked because of a budget dispute over tax breaks for certain industries and lower-than-anticipated state revenues between Legislature Republicans and Democratic Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, according to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In the last few weeks, Nixon has vetoed tax-break legislation for dry cleaners, power companies, and data storage centers, but $17.8 million in state general revenue for dental services hasn't been released.

Nine years ago, state Republicans had cut adult dental benefits from Medicaid. This year, however, they supported restoring dental coverage as a way to promote cost-effective preventive care and oral health.

Costs should be less because people can get dental care for a couple hundred dollars a year, rather than spending thousands of dollars in the emergency room, according to Rep. Sue Allen (R-Town and Country), a chief backer of the proposal.

"What we probably have are a lot of really good social services and safety net providers who could finally offer services to people who need them, and now they realize that it is not going to happen," Sidney Watson, a St. Louis University School of Law professor, is quoted in the article.