Oral Health Story Collection: What Vermonters Are Telling Us About Access to Care

Over the past year, the Outreach Working Group has been collecting stories of Vermonters who lack access to affordable dental care. Not only have all of the member organizations of the Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition been contacted to assist in this effort, but we have done outreach to many of the Parent Child Centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Community Action Agencies, Voc. Rehab offices, Senior Centers, Councils on Aging, faith organizations, mental health agencies and food pantries around the state. Most of you have seen our orange postcard-sized handout that we have been using for this purpose. Over 2,000 postcards have been distributed statewide. Additionally, the staff of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security (VCHCS) has conducted presentations and individual interviews about affordable dental care. We have gone to senior centers, Voc. Rehab offices, community meal sites, food shelves, and stood in front of supermarkets and post offices. We have talked to people calling the VCHCS hotline to find out if they are willing to share their dental stories with us. As of the beginning of May the Coalition has collected nearly 200 stories through these efforts. A few of the themes that have emerged include: Many Vermonters have no dental insurance at all. • VHAP, Catamount Health and Medicare offer no dental coverage at all, and many people on these health insurance plans report that dental care is simply unaffordable. • People delay dental care, often for years, and even when in pain, because of the cost. Many Vermonters with dental insurance coverage find it to be inadequate. • The current VT adult Medicaid dental benefit ($495/year) is not enough to cover much of anything beyond cleanings and the occasional filling. • In many parts of VT, dentists are not taking new patients on Medicaid Access to affordable dental care for low income Vermonters depends on where you live. • If you are on Medicaid and live near an FQHC dental clinic but cannot get transportation there, you cannot access dental care. • People with incomes under 200% of poverty (including everyone on VHAP) living in one of the towns served by an FQHC dental clinic have access to their sliding scale and generally report it is affordable. • People on VHAP living in all of the other VT towns not covered by the FQHC dental

Oral Health Story Collection:

What Vermonters Are Telling Us About Access to Care Over the past 4 months the Outreach Working Group has been collecting stories of Vermonters who lack access to affordable dental care. Not only have all of the member organizations of the Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition been contacted to assist in this effort, but we have done outreach to many of the Parent Child Centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Community Action Agencies, Voc. Rehab offices, Senior Centers, Councils on Aging, faith organizations, mental health agencies and food pantries around the state. Most of you have seen our orange postcard-sized handout that we have been using for this purpose. Close to 2,000 postcards have been distributed statewide. Additionally, the staff of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security (VCHCS) has conducted presentations and individual interviews about affordable dental care. We have gone to senior centers, Voc. Rehab offices, community meal sites, food shelves, and stood in front of supermarkets and post offices. We have talked to people calling the VCHCS hotline to find out if they are willing to share their dental stories with us. As of the middle of October we have collected over 125 stories through these efforts. A few of the themes we continue to hear include: Many Vermonters have no dental insurance at all.

• VHAP, Catamount Health and Medicare offer no dental coverage at all, and many people on these health insurance plans report that dental care is simply unaffordable.

• People delay dental care, often for years, and even when in pain, because of the cost. Many Vermonters with dental insurance coverage find it to be inadequate. • The current VT adult Medicaid dental benefit ($495/year) is not enough to cover much of

anything beyond cleanings and the occasional filling. • In many parts of VT, dentists are not taking new patients on Medicaid

Access to affordable dental care for low income Vermonters depends on where you live.

• If you are on Medicaid and live near an FQHC dental clinic but cannot get transportation there, you cannot access dental care.

• People with incomes under 200% of poverty (including everyone on VHAP) living in one of the towns served by an FQHC dental clinic have access to their sliding scale and generally report it is affordable.

• People on VHAP living in all of the other VT towns not covered by the FQHC dental clinics have no access to sliding scale oral health care and generally say it is not affordable.

clinics have no access to sliding scale oral health care and generally say it is not affordable. Oral health impacts overall health • Many people report living with pain and infections because they cannot afford dental care. Many Vermonters resort to dental care in emergency situations only • GA (general assistance) vouchers help very few people and don’t pay for fillings, crowns (or dentures after the extraction they do pay for). • For those who report the inability to afford regular cleanings, often they do not get dental care until they are in pain