As Florida legislators try to trim the state's Medicaid budget -- which is expected to top $21 billion next year -- dentistry may be one of the services that could face cuts, according to a news story in the Miami Herald.
An emerging state Senate bill calls for making cuts in so-called optional Medicaid services, including dental, vision, and mental health services, the Herald reported.
"We're only going to be able to fund essential services," said Sen. Joe Negron (R-Stuart), who chairs the budget subcommittee that oversees Medicaid, in the story. "My goal is that the Medicaid benefit will be comparable to what a citizen in the private sector has, not worse and certainly not better."
Some advocates have voiced concerns about these cuts.
"If you start cutting these services that are medically necessary, [patients] can't find it anywhere else," said Laura Goodhue, head of the patient advocacy group Florida Community Health Action Information Network. "That's something you can't get somewhere else -- dentures to eat or eyeglasses to see in school. They're trying to make them sound frivolous and like extras, but they're not."
