(WXYZ) — With the end of the national COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on Thursday, there are a lot of healthcare changes on the horizon.
In fact, some of those changes are already underway, and according to the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, more than 14 million adults in the U.S. are at risk of losing dental care now that Medicaid re-eligibility checks are underway.
That can be dangerous for the patient and expensive for the country as a whole because dental care can affect whole body health.
In the dental clinic at Wellness Plan, an integrated community health center on Detroit's east side, Dr. Chelsea Covington tells her patients that oral care is key to overall health.
"Bad bacteria in the mouth can affect cardiovascular systems and other systemic conditions like diabetes," Covington said.
Poor oral health has also been tied to pregnancy and birth complications, pneumonia, dementia and some cancers. It can also impact daily functioning
"Maybe not able to sleep as well, not being able to eat as well. Your interactions, your social interactions," she said.
That's why Covington and others in the health community are sounding the alarm about than 14 million Americans and more than 500,000 Michiganders at risk of losing dental care now that COVID-era policies are lapsing and recertification requirements are kicking in.
"There's a big concern, though, because millions of people currently have Medicaid coverage, and if they don't complete these forms, they could lose that coverage and not even realize it," Dr. Renuka Tipirneni from the University of Michigan said.
She says lots of people enrolled for Medicaid for the first time during the pandemic and those already enrolled haven't needed to complete annual paperwork. But now that's changing.
"If they don't follow through with completing the new paperwork this year, they could lose Medicaid coverage," Tipirneni said. "That's hundreds of thousands of people in Michigan."
To maintain coverage, Tipirneni says first make sure your address is up to date with Medicaid or other health plans. Second, look out for a re-determination request that may be easy to miss.
"That often is in a nondescript white envelope with tiny print that may be very important to complete that information," Tipirneni said.
But you could still be unenrolled if your income has increased, there is a change in the number of people in your household or for older Michiganders a change in assets. If that happens to you, ask your employer about their health plan or check out healthcare.gov.
"The national marketplace has a lot of great options and a lot more people are eligible now for financial assistance than even a couple of years ago," Tipirneni said.
So, for dentists like Covington and her colleagues at The Wellness Plan, the mission is two-fold: Provide dental care for those in need and spread the word.
"Getting those resources out there to the people so they know that they're if they're low income and they can't afford things, that there are places that you can go so that you can get the work that you need," Covington said.
This is not only an urban issue. In fact, Tipirneni says she is even more concerned about rural hospitals and providers who have been operating with the slimmest of financial margins and struggling to survive.
When Michiganders who don’t have health insurance show up at the emergency room or need to be hospitalized, we all pay in the form of high premiums and higher hospital bills. It’s important to get the word out and look for the re-determination letters so you can keep health and dental insurance coverage
