dental

When state lawmakers learned that Sacramento County’s dental program for poor children has one of the worst records in the state, they immediately scheduled hearings and demanded reform.

But the same statistics that revealed Sacramento’s dismal record mask a larger Medi-Cal managed care program that does an even worse job – one that hasn’t received the same kind of legislative scrutiny.

In our ongoing coverage of Sacramento County’s dental plan for poor kids, we’ve reported on proposals to fix its performance, including a measure in the Legislature that would fundamentally change the way the Medi-Cal program works there.

But there’s another, earlier bill that advocates say would have statewide impact, especially for Californians who live in places where dental treatment is difficult to access.

Since February, reports from the CHCF Center for Health Reporting and The Sacramento Bee have painted a grim picture of low-income children waiting for months or even years to see a dentist in Sacramento. And now some state lawmakers are calling for immediate action.

Almost two decades ago, the state started a managed care pilot program in Sacramento County for children’s dental care. Since then, several families have described harrowing instances of long wait times and unsuccessful attempts to get through the red tape.

This story originally aired on KQED Public Radio.