AJC Political Insider Blog on the Dental Press conference

[Guest guest]

A fight over dental care for kids is headed to court

Wednesday, August 22, 2007, 08:57 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Get ready for yet another legal fight over health care.

Two health care groups, WellState and Peach State, handle many of the patients treated under the government-financed Medicaid and PeachCare programs.

They in turn had contracted with two other outfits to provide dental care: Kool Smiles, which served 71,000 children annually at 10 offices across the state, Help a Child Smile, a mobile program that treats 30,000 kids a year.

Kool Smiles and Help a Child Smile have now been dumped by both health maintenance groups.

But one of the dental groups, Kool Smiles, isn’t going quietly. It says the two health management organizations are out to cut costs by depriving kids of dental care. The companies argue that other dentists in its network can pick up the slack, and that patient care won’t suffer. The state Department of Community Health agrees.

At a press conference at 12:30 p.m. today, Kool Smiles will announce a class-action suit to block the severance of its contract.

Kool Smiles has lined up some impressive clout. House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta) wrote this in an op-ed piece last week:

“Officials with the [Care Maintenance Organizations] claim that other dentists will step in to see these patients, but that’s questionable. Kool Smiles had been treating 24 percent of the children under Medicaid and Peachcare.

“What’s even more infuriating is that the CMOs made this policy decision without consulting the General Assembly which funds the program. The state invited providers such as Kool Smiles into Georgia to run this managed care dental service for low-income kids. Now it is telling them to take a hike.”

Republican state Rep. Ed Lindsey of Atlanta is litigating the class-action case.

Go to http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2007/08/22/a_fight_over_dental_care_for_k.html and post your comments and contact Rep. Burkhalter and especially Rep. Lindsey. Maybe we can work w/ them to make changes.