Great Majority of Dentists in Wisconsin Don't Take BadgerCare Patients

Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 -- 9:01 AM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) The great majority of dentists in Wisconsin don’t take BadgerCare patients.

According to Hope Kirwan with the Wisconsin Public Radio, in a 2018 survey by the state Department of Health Services, or DHS, only 29 percent of licensed dentists said they served patients with public insurance.

After years of lobbying by dental organizations, Wisconsin’s last state budget increased BadgerCare reimbursement rates for dental care by 40 percent. But most health leaders agree the number of dentists serving these patients has not dramatically increased, especially as more of the state’s providers reach retirement age.

An analysis of state data by the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association, or WPHCA, found that fewer than 40 percent of children and young adults with Medicaid insurance saw a dentist in 2022.

The percentage is even lower for adults in the program, only 23 percent of people ages 21 to 64 received dental services and only 18 percent of seniors. The same report shows that of the 878 dentists enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, nearly one in five did not see any Medicaid patients in 2022.

Leaders in the dental care industry say that many providers have declined to take patients with public insurance because of the historically low reimbursement rates from the state.

Chris Hansen, president of the Wisconsin Dental Association, said only a few years ago, dentists were being reimbursed for around 30 percent or less of what they usually charge for services.

The state’s 2021-2023 biennial budget increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental services by 40 percent. But Hansen, who retired last year after a decade of operating his own practice in Two Rivers, said the current rate still leaves many dentists with less than half of their normal fee.

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