California dentists who are willing to relocate, expand or establish a new practice to an area of highest patient need and commit to serving Medi-Cal beneficiaries for at least 10 years can apply in January 2020 to receive up to $300,000 in grant funding through the state’s CalHealthCares program to support related costs.

As part of the finalized 2019-20 California state budget, the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a continuation of supplemental Medi-Cal provider rates, including significant dollars for dentists serving Medi-Cal patients. An additional $20 million was dedicated to dentists through a recently launched student loan repayment program.

Eligible California dentists can once again apply through CalHealthCares for up to $300K in either an educational loan repayment or practice support grant up to $300,000 in exchange for making a Medi-Cal service commitment.

The California 2022-23 state budget signed by Gov. Newsom includes all of CDA’s priority asks with major investments in health care workforce development and $50 million to build and expand facilities and infrastructure to provide care for dental patients with special health care needs.

Eligible California dentists, dental students, physicians and medical residents can apply beginning Jan. 13 for up to $300,000 in student loan repayment or a practice support grant through the CalHealthCares program. Marc Bernardo, DMD, MPH, one of 38 dentists awarded a CalHealthCares Student Loan Repayment in June 2019, encourages dentists and dental students who are interested in applying to start preparing now.

The 2018-19 state budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown dedicates $210 million from the Proposition 56 Tobacco Tax revenue to Denti-Cal providers, a $70 million increase from last year’s amount. This effort is the result of years of activity to improve the Medi-Cal dental program and increase access to oral health care for the state’s 13.5 million Medi-Cal enrollees.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today laid out a new 2020-21 California budget proposal that slashes billions of dollars in spending in an effort to tackle a massive $54 billion deficit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s revenues plummeted, wiping out the state’s $6 billion surplus.

Marc Bernardo, DMD, MPH, and Michelle Galeon, DMD, are among the first recipients of a new grant funded by Proposition 56, a voter-approved tobacco tax that CDA and other health care organizations sponsored in 2016. The grant program awarded $10 million in debt relief to 38 dentists (up to $300,000 each) in exchange for the dentists maintaining a 30% or more Medi-Cal patient caseload for five years.

The dental initiatives of California’s transformative Medi-Cal proposal, CalAIM, have added to the significant gains made by the Medi-Cal Dental Program, which is designed to serve more than 14.7 million eligible Californians. Read about six major changes that are working for dentists and patients.

Paul Reggiardo, DDS, executive director of the California Society of Pediatric Dentistry, spoke recently with Miguel Padilla, DMD, one of 38 dentists who received a CalHealthCares student loan repayment in 2019.

More than 7 million adults enrolled in Denti-Cal, California’s Medicaid dental program, will have a fully restored package of dental benefits in 2018. The adult benefit package was drastically cut in 2009 due to the state budget crisis and was partially restored in May 2014. The restoration of the adult dental benefit services is a result of legislative action taken during the 2017-18 budget process.

Health care providers can expect to see major revisions to the Medi-Cal program over the next couple of years as a result of a new initiative by the Department of Health Care Services. Released in late October, the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) proposal will implement “broader delivery system, program and payment reform across the Medi-Cal Program,” according to the proposal summary.

The Department of Health Care Service’s new program designed to expand access to care for Medi-Cal patients has awarded $10.5 million to 40 dentists to pay student loan debt. Approximately 1,300 health care providers, including 350 dentists, applied to the CalHealthCares program, which offers up to $300,000 in debt relief in exchange for meeting certain criteria.

Improvements to the Medi-Cal Dental program continue with new options for dentists who treat Medi-Cal members, including the ability to provide fluoride treatment and fluoride varnish as a benefit once every four months for patients under age 6. The increase in the benefit periodicity underscores the state’s commitment to regular preventive oral health visits for young children in California.

Starting Oct. 31, dental providers must electronically submit Medi-Cal enrollment applications and required documentation through the online portal PAVE. Dentists can attend upcoming webinars to learn how to use the portal.

The California Department of Health Care Services plans to implement the Provider Application and Validation for Enrollment portal to simplify and accelerate Medi-Cal enrollment processes for dental providers no later than November 2022.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, adults enrolled in the Denti-Cal program are eligible for an expanded set of dental benefits. The Department of Health Care Services on Nov. 9 issued a special provider bulletin to clarify the dental services that providers may render, bill and be reimbursed for by Denti-Cal in 2018, including scaling and root planing, partial dentures and posterior root canals.