L.A. Care Health Plans’ Oral Health Initiative has awarded more than $600,000 to 9 community health organizations to improve access to dental services in Los Angeles County.
“We want to benefit the safety net that helps those with no access to a government sponsored program,” said Roland Palencia, director of community benefit programs at L.A. Care Health Plan. “There’s not a lot of reimbursement for dental care – it’s like a stepchild to medical care.”
As the nation’s largest public health plan, L.A. Care covers more than 800,000 people in Los Angeles County. The health plan’s philosophy is that the mouth is not detached or separated from the body, Palencia said, noting that many dangerous infections can start in the mouth, and that good dental care is key to a healthy overall system.
Many adult L.A. Care patients are also members of Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, and were left stranded after the state legislature removed dental care funding – or Denti-Cal – from the Medi-Cal program.
“The community clinics chosen to receive the dental care grants are very solid providers, and are among the few practices that have dental services in-house,” said Palencia.
L.A. Care has worked with the grantee clinics in the past, Palencia said, although each community clinic is required to prove its ability to provide the dental services.
Twenty-two organizations were contacted about the grant, 13 applied and 10 were funded this year. The new grants will be doled out over two years. This is the fourth round of funding since 2003.
“This is a big issue in California,” said Cheryl Trinidad, director of development at the Eisner Pediatric & Family Medi-Cal Center, which received $75,000 in dental grants from L.A. Care.
The medical center, which serves the downtown community and parts of southern Los Angeles, hosts 21,000 dental visits per year.
The L.A. Care grants cover routine care procedures such as tooth extractions, crowns, fillings and cleanings. More advanced procedures may be covered, too.
“Patients need some level of insurance, or it will be tough for some of these clinics to continue to provide some of these services,” said Palencia.
QueensCare Family Clinics, the Largest Medi-Cal provider in the Public Private Partnership Program for the Los Angeles County, billed $114,000 in services to Denti-Cal last year. The organization received $75,000 in L.A. Care dental grants.
Lee Huey, CFO at QueensCare, said the grant would help fill in the funding gap without having to drop patients from the clinic rolls. QueensCare provides between 16,000-17,000 patient dental visits each year, he said.
“Our mission is to serve the poor, working poor and underserved,” said Huey. “But there must be some type of political resolution [to the funding problem].”
Some of the clinics will also cater to those with disabilities, Palencia said.
“The level of acuity in the disabled community is generally much higher,” he said. “For disabled patients, dental care doesn’t seem to be a top priority, especially when a low-income is a factor.”
Grants were issued to these clincs:
- Altamed Health Services Corporation (East Los Angeles) received $75,000;
- Eisner Pediatric and Family Medical Center (downtown Los Angeles) received $75,000;
- Los Angeles Christian Health Centers (downtown Los Angeles) received $38,170;
- Northeast Valley Health Corporation (San Fernando) received $75,000;
- QueensCare Family Clinics (Hollywood) received $75,000;
- South Bay Family Health Care (South Bay) received $75,000;
- St. John’s Well Child and Family Center (South Los Angeles) received $75,000;
- The Saban Free Clinic (Hollywood) received $40,880;
- University of Southern California-School of Dentistry (downtown Los Angeles) received $75,000.