Few Dentists Participate In State Program To Provide Dental Care To Poor Residents
The lack of providers in Denti-Cal leaves thousands of people without dental care. A 2014 state audit found 11 counties have no dentists taking new Denti-Cal patients, while another sixteen are underserved, according to Capital Public Radio. Also in news about public health, a look at the fight over a ballot measure to increase the cost of cigarettes and efforts to remove contaminated soil at schools near the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant.
Capital Public Radio:
How A Broken, $1 Billion State Program Leaves Californians With Cavities
The government spends more than $1 billion annually on California teeth, offering dental coverage to 13 million low-income residents who qualify for Medi-Cal services. But, most California dentists refuse to participate in the Denti-Cal program, leaving patients with impossible wait times that lead to expensive health consequences. The Asian Health Services dental clinic in Oakland is the rare office that sees patients who get their dental coverage through Medi-Cal. Even with six dentists working on 50 patients a day, office assistant Tiffany Sitlin says the clinic can’t keep up with demand. (Bradford, 8/22)
San Francisco Business Times:
Why Some Business Groups Are Supporting A $2-Per-Pack Tax Hike On Cigarettes
Two large business organizations in San Francisco and Los Angeles are backing a tax measure that will appear on the November ballot that would hike the cost of cigarettes by $2 a pack. Their endorsements may not make a difference, however, as tobacco companies and other opposing business groups have outspent backers of the initiative by more than two-to-one so far. (Young, 8/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Exide Cleanup: Lead-Contaminated Soil To Be Removed From 2 L.A. Schools, District Says
Amid an outcry from parents over lead contamination, Los Angeles school officials said Monday that they will remove soil with elevated levels of the brain-damaging metal from two elementary schools near the closed Exide Technologies battery recycling plant. Soil will be replaced in a front lawn and around a tree at Lorena Street Elementary in Boyle Heights and in a front lawn and around two trees at Rowan Avenue Elementary in East Los Angeles, said Robert Laughton, director of environmental health and safety for the L.A. Unified School District. (Barboza, 8/22)