Dental Managed Care Plan Limits Access for L.A. Children

Only 23% of Los Angeles County children enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care plan visited a dentist last year, compared with 31% in Sacramento and about half of all Medi-Cal children beneficiaries statewide. Medi-Cali is California's Medicaid program. Advocates say dental managed care plans -- which pay clinics and dentists a monthly fee per child, regardless of whether the child visits a dentist -- ultimately limit children's access to pediatric dentists and other specialists. The article was produced by the California HealthCare Foundation's Center for Health Reporting, which is supported by a grant from CHCF, the publisher of California Healthline.

• "Children Suffer Under Dental Managed Care That Saves California Money" (Bazar, Sacramento Bee, 5/29).