The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is a department within the California Health and Human Services Agency that finances and administers a number of individual health care service delivery programs, including Medi-Cal, which provides health care services to low-income people. It was formerly known as the California Department of Health Services, which was reorganized in 2007 into the DHCS and the California Department of Public Health.[1] On September 10, 2019, DHCS Director Jennifer Kent announced her resignation, effective September 30, 2019.[2] On September 25, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Richard Figueroa, Jr. as Acting Director.[3] Will Lightbourne was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom and began serving as Director on June 16, 2020.[4] Subsequently, Michelle Baass was appointed Director of DHCS by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 10, 2021, replacing the outgoing Will Lightbourne.[5]
"Information shortcomings and ineffective actions" by DHCS are putting child beneficiaries at higher risk of dental disease.
Only 43.9 percent of children enrolled in Denti-Cal had seen a dentist the previous year – the 12th worst among states that submitted data.
Reimbursement rates for the 10 most common dental procedures were 35 percent of the national average – and haven’t risen since the 2000-2001 budget year.
California might not have enough Denti-Cal-participating dentists to handle millions of new Denti-Cal beneficiaries as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
DHCS had not adequately overseen its Denti-Cal administrative contractor, which had not "performed contract-required outreach for improving dental access in underserved areas."[6]
With 13 million children and adults enrolled, Denti-Cal is the largest state-sponsored dental insurance program
Private contractor that administers Denti-Cal is Delta Dental. In 2016, the State of California awarded Delta Dental a new contract to provide administrative services for the Denti-Cal program, continuing the 42-year relationship[7]
Medi-Cal Dental paid to the doctors only 30% of what commercial insurers paid for the same procedures per October 2017 report; even though DHCS must annually review reimbursement levels for Medi-Cal dental services to ensure “reasonable access” for Medi-Cal beneficiaries pursuant to Welfare & Institutions Code §14079 [8]
In San Francisco, 61,440 children were enrolled in Denti-Cal as of 2016,[8] but only three pediatric dentists were accepting new patients as of Mar 2018;[9] similarly, there were only 15 dentists that accepted new clients for 173,000+ adult patients
^Denti-Cal provider referral list - San Francisco Mar 2018. "denti-cal.ca.gov"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2018-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
