Western Dental, one of the largest providers of California's Denti-Cal dental Medicaid program, has announced it will stop accepting new patients covered by the program because of low reimbursements and increased demand.
Western Dental will stop accepting new Denti-Cal patients at 13 offices on June 1, according to a story in the Sacramento Business Journal. The company will also close two offices as it reassesses participation in the Denti-Cal program.
Western serves between 650,000 and 700,000 patients annually, the story noted.
The company's parent organization recently had their corporate family rating downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, citing weak financial performance because of an increase of low-margin patients.
The California Department of Health Care Services, which oversees Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal, said it is evaluating how to ensure that beneficiaries who have been receiving care from Western Dental dentists are able to find new providers, the story stated.
