Mike Baker: Restoring dental health care services should be a priority

Waking up in the middle of the night with a horrible toothache is never a good thing. If you’re poor and you can’t afford to see a dentist, you’re likely going to the emergency room to make the pain go away. After what usually is a long wait at the ER, you’ll be treated and released with a bill that you have no way of paying.

Instead, Idahoans get to foot the bill and the cycle of rising health care costs goes on.

There is a solution to help reduce costs. We can break the cycle by spending a nominal amount of money on dental prevention for about 30,000 Idahoans living 26 percent below federal poverty guidelines. For example, an adult with two children making less than $5,195 annually would qualify for the program.

The Idaho Senate is expected to vote on a bill that would restore Medicaid dental benefits to Medicaid patients in the coming days.

The vote is expected to be very close.

The Idaho Legislature eliminated all dental health care services to adults on basic Medicaid during the recession in 2011. Emergency dental services were restored for this low-income population in 2014. However, preventive care services are not covered.

This was an error. What seemed like a good cost-cutting move ultimately ended up costing taxpayers more money in the end.

As the Benjamin Franklin adage goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Franklin’s wisdom is still true today. Preventive care saves money in the long run.

It’s important to know that the bill would not expand the Medicaid program by adding new enrollees and applies to adults with children that are enrolled in Medicaid already.

Heritage Health delivers dental care to 15,000 patients annually. Many of them would benefit from the bill’s passage. They could have regular cleanings and cavities covered instead of putting off much-needed dental work.

These patients suffer every day and their pain could be prevented.

We feel the approval of the measure makes sound fiscal sense. Beyond that, though, is a moral imperative to care for the most vulnerable members of our society.

It is the right thing to do and I urge you to contact your local elected officials and ask them to pass this bill.