The Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer says a legislative package aimed at expanding access to dental care would have minimal impact in Fond du Lac County. Governor Tony Evers signed the legislation last week that authorizes licenses for dental therapists in areas experiencing shortages in care. The package also provides guidelines for allocating money for technical colleges’ dental training programs, allows dental workers from other states to practice in Wisconsin, and eases the path for dentists to seek Medicaid reimbursements. Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says there aren’t any dentists in Fond du Lac County that are Medicaid providers. “If you have BadgerCare or Medicaid you won’t be able to go to a dentist. To fix that problem we have something called Save a Smile where we become that Medicaid provider,” Mueller told WFDL news. ” We can then see a client and plug them into a local dentist.” Mueller says there are three main reasons why dentists don’t like taking on a Medicaid patient. “The reimbursement rate is next to nothing compared to what their expenses are, also the Medicaid billing is a nightmare, it takes so long, and then also the no-show rate. With our Save a Smile program, we take care of those three problems.” U.S. Health Resources Administration data has found shortages of dental care in 160 areas of Wisconsin, defined as geographic areas, facilities or populations experiencing a shortage of care providers.
