G-2003-16220

This investment provides continued support Families USA in its efforts to raise awareness among state and federal policymakers, the media, and the general public about the urgent need to achieve and protect oral health coverage in the states and defend the core Medicaid and Medicare programs. Historically, Families USA has been a key national stakeholder in efforts to introduce a comprehensive dental benefit in Medicare and support state efforts to protect or expand their dental benefit in their respective Medicaid programs. In 2019, Families USA supported the inclusion of oral health in several bills, designed and convened a group of national and state stakeholders to build alignment on the priorities towards a dental benefit in Medicare, provided facilitation and subject matter expertise to network-wide events, including ongoing meetings of the Policy NRT and national convening. Through this grant, specifically, Families USA will maintain and expand the infrastructure to support and sustain the Oral Health Coverage for All Campaign - convening monthly meetings or teleconferences of national alignment partner organizations; provide individualized, in-depth technical assistance in five states: Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine to support effective engagement in Medicaid and Medicare oral health policy activities; build upon relationships and communications strategy built by Oral Health America with key national partners; support and coordinate (in partnership with Community Catalyst) OPEN activities related to its national policy agenda and state policy efforts; and serve as the leader of the national Medicare political engagement strategy. Families USA launched the Oral Health for All Campaign in 2016. Through this process, a strong hub with Oral Health America, the Children's Dental Health Project, and many others was formed. Families USA provides support to individual states and will continue to develop tools and resources for OPEN. $610,000 will be used to support personnel time associated with partner outreach, coalition-building, and strategy formation; travel and other administrative items associated with the project's implementation. The proposal primarily aligns with the Oral Health 2020 goal of including an adult dental benefit in publicly funded health coverage and the target that at least 30 states have an extensive Medicaid adult dental benefit and that there is comprehensive dental benefit in Medicare .