Maine has become the first state in the U.S. to enact legislation designed to ensure its youngest children have access to early preventive dental care. The bill, An Act To Improve Dental Insurance Coverage for Maine Children, was signed into law June 1 by Gov. John Baldacci.
Under the new law, beginning in January 2011, any dental plan offered in Maine will have to provide parents the ability to enroll their child at birth, or at any age thereafter. Whether or not children are enrolled will be entirely up to the parents.
Sen. Justin Alfond (D-Cumberland County) said he sponsored the bill because he wanted to ensure that all dental benefit plans provide coverage to children from the age of birth. It was supported by the Maine Children's Alliance, Northeast Delta Dental, and the Maine Dental Association (MDA).
"Recently it came to my attention that some insurers were offering employer dental plans that would only begin coverage of children at 2, 3, or 4 years of age," Alfond said in a press release. "By this age, children can have significant tooth decay that could be avoided by seeing a dentist as soon as their first teeth appear."
The MDA asked Alfond to submit this legislation after a local dentist treated a 4-year-old child who had significant tooth decay. The parent said she didn't bring the child to the dentist earlier because her dental benefit plan didn't pay for earlier care. After some investigation, it turns out the parents' employer had an age restriction for enrollment that has been very common in Maine for dental benefit plans. The child had extensive dental needs that could have been averted if preventive dental care had been covered at an earlier age.
"This sad story was very troubling to the association members," said MDA Executive Director Frances Miliano. "We know that prevention is the best weapon we have to stop dental disease, but lack of coverage for this child was a barrier to preventive care. We strongly believe dental benefit plans must provide the option for early care. Many plans in Maine already offer this option, but we wanted to be sure that all plans are standardized."
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