Effects of Adult Medicaid Dental Benefits Elimination on Child Dental Care Use

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of adult dental benefit cuts on child dental use in Washington state Medicaid and determine if cuts affect child demographic subgroups differentially.

Research design: The study used an interrupted time-series methodology to measure differences in child dental use after adult dental benefit elimination and reinstatement. Monthly data came from Washington state Medicaid enrollee and dental claim files from January 2008 to December 2015.

Subjects: Medicaid-enrolled children with at least one Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household were the intervention group, and Medicaid-enrolled children without a Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household were the control group.

Measures: The outcome was the monthly proportion of Medicaid-enrolled children with a dental examination per 10,000 Medicaid-enrolled children.

Results: After adult dental benefits elimination, dental examinations among children with Medicaid-enrolled adults in the same household gradually decreased, corresponding to 65 fewer dental examinations per 10,000 children per year (5.4 fewer dental examinations per 10,000 children per month; 95% confidence interval: -7.7, -3.1; P =0.006). Adult dental benefits had no effect on dental examination for children without a Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household. Dental examinations for children with a Medicaid-enrolled adult in the same household continued to gradually decrease after adult benefits reinstatement. Children younger than age 6 were the most adversely impacted by changes to adult Medicaid dental benefits.

Conclusion: Policymakers should consider the spillover effects and ethical considerations of eliminating adult Medicaid dental benefits on children's access to dental care.