(Newswire.net — January 30, 2019) — Medicaid is a low-cost or free health insurance program being funded by both the government and the state. The coverage targets low-income families and anybody in need, including the elderly, disabled and the children. Medicaid in 32 states is granted to anyone eligible to get Supplemental Security Income benefits. The financial eligibility requirements, however, vary from one state to another. The subject of Medicaid also raises a lot of questions as well. One of them being, does Medicaid cover dental bridges?
Does Medicaid Cover Dental Bridges?
Dental health is very key as far as your general health and well-being is concerned.Therefore, it is important to ensure that both preventative maintenance and regular checkups are done. This is however difficult if you have no dental insurance.
The report by the American Dental Association shows that among children aged between 2-8 years, 38.7 percent enjoy dental benefits by Medicaid and other programs run by the government, and 11 percent of them has Medicaid, but without dental insurance. The same report reveals that among adults aged 19-64 years, only 6.7 percent has dental benefits by Medicaid, and 35.2 percent of them has Medicaid, but without dental insurance.
Notably, dental insurance can become quite expensive particularly if any comprehensive benefits are included. Luckily, there exist programs that can help one get dental and low-cost health insurance depending on your state of residence. Medicaid is among such programs.
There are different requirements and qualifications in each state that have to be met for dental-care coverage by Medicaid. One has to find out the specific requirements for their state.
Much like how Medicare can cover different things and is available accordingly, comprehensive dental benefits are provided in around less than half the states. Medicaid in 32 states, on the other hand, covers dental care for specific categories like medically necessary dental work and emergency dental services.
Emergency Dental Services
These services include any necessary dental extraction or procedure that provides instant pain relief to an affected person. They also consist of any services required to get rid of any infection or control bleeding and emergency treatments required for any injury to the gums or teeth.
Medicaid in the 18 states covers only cover emergency dental services without any other dental care. These are Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Texas, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Utah, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Medically Necessary Dental Work
Technically, Medicaid is basically a health insurance program and therefore it includes certain procedures essential for medical health. Treatment needed in correlation with any medical services that are covered under the program, treatment of certain diseases, and work needed to have non-biting injuries fixed are all included here.
Medicaid in all the 50 states currently covers dental care when medically necessary. The state, however, is the one to make a determination whether any procedure is a medical-necessity or not.
Conclusion
So, does Medicaid cover dental bridges? Yes, it does. Medicaid’s financial eligibility requirements are very friendly since it targets the low-income families and anybody in need including the elderly, disabled and the children.