1802-13984

The purpose of this grant is to continue to build the capacity of healthcare consumers in Arizona to meaningfully engage in policy and systems change; to improve the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health; to enhance collaborative, cross-blade infrastructure processes, shared power, and decision-making; and to elevate health equity and social justice approaches within the Oral Health 2020 Network that are fully informed by, and reflective of, community voices. The work in this proposal builds on key successes last year including building a bridge between system actors in oral health such as our state Medicaid agency, health department, universities and provider groups and our grassroots partners and other community-based organizations. This work will continue to serve as leadership in Arizona around preserving oral health coverage gains for children through Medicaid and CHIP and will help ensure that critical state-level policy research and analysis is present to support consumer-centered policy solutions. Children’s Action Alliance will build on the successes of last year in demonstrating the value of Medicaid for Arizona’s children, seniors, rural communities, and people living with disabilities. There is an increased advocacy capacity of the Arizona Oral Health Coalition (AZOC) and other stakeholders and will continue to act as a bridge to cross-pollinate the efforts of the AZOHC and our Cover Kids Coalition. This work will continue to strengthen relationships with consumer and oral health system partners and will engage them in our work around showing the value of Medicaid’s ESPDT benefit to children, educating the public and lawmakers on the harms of Medicaid work requirements and lifetime limits, and preventing an automatic freeze to our CHIP program, KidsCare, when the federal funding rate drops. Children’s Action Alliance will also conduct state-level policy research on the network adequacy of dentists participating in Medicaid and Arizona’s performance on addressing children’s oral health status – two key points of contention between organized dentistry and advocates for system reform. The work will further analyze this data and produce communications tools, such as infrographics, GIS maps, fact sheets, and talking points for our partners and fellow grassroots grantees to use to educate stakeholders, lawmakers, and constituents on oral health policies that will increase access and reduce disparities for children. In addition, we will work with our Medicaid agency and stakeholders to find opportunities to advocate for more transparency and reporting on utilization of Medicaid and CHIP dental benefits among children.