G-2301-17692

The Maryland Dental Action Coalition (MDAC) is the state’s leading non-governmental oral health policy and advocacy organization. MDAC works to improve the health of all Marylanders through increased oral health promotion, disease prevention, education, advocacy, and access to oral health care. MDAC’s advocacy to improve oral health equity led to great success that expanded access to care for approximately 750,000 low-income adults. The benefit includes coverage for diagnostic, preventive, restorative, and periodontal services.

Since the start of expanded dental coverage in January 2023, the Maryland Medical Assistance – Dental Coverage for Adults Program has served nearly 200,000 adults with dental care and processed more than $150M to Maryland’s safety net workforce. MDAC’s consumer and community engagement campaign has played a significant role in the expansion’s success. Through the campaign, MDAC educated care coordinators, social workers, and case managers about the benefit while also developing and distributing digital and physical notices with information about the expansion, translated in four languages, to community members.

In Maryland, there are still several implementation goals that must be met and MDAC plans to support these efforts through consumer outreach and education, care coordination engagement, and continued advocacy for policies that address barriers that impede access to care for the most vulnerable adults. There will also continue to be a need for data collection and analysis of the benefit’s utilization among newly insured individuals as well as innovative planning to respond to the workforce crisis the dental field and millions of Americans are currently experiencing. MDAC has outlined the following activities to improve oral health care access in Maryland:

Advocate for, outreach to, and engage with Medicaid consumers regarding coverage, access to care, and on-going challenges with addressing oral health need with the goal of also increasing adult utilization.

Initiate a multi-year social media campaign focused on addressing oral health as part of overall health.

Continue to work with state agency partners to implement a broad provider engagement strategy to increase the safety-net of care for Medicaid consumers, which will also address ongoing dental professional shortages and integration opportunities.

Partner with public and private clinicians, WIC, Early Head Start, and the University of Maryland to promote expanded pregnancy coverage, (i.e., immigrant communities) and advocacy for the integration of oral health care education and care into prenatal and postpartum settings.

MDAC will continue to monitor and pursue higher utilization rates and will reconnect with partner organizations from the past year’s campaign efforts to gather information on the impact of dental care on clients’ health and wellbeing (incl. mental, economic, etc.). The organization plans to develop a robust analysis of the recent oral health policy changes, as well as reimbursement rate increases, to not only continue building trust with communities but also share learnings and best practices with other states that may be struggling to expand or protect dental benefits.

The original request for funding was $164,391, however it is being recommended for a grant of $150,000, which is consistent with CareQuest Institute’s historical grantmaking to MDAC. This request represents 28% of MDAC’s overall budget. Funds from this grant will support two staff members (the CEO and Program Director) as well as travel, communication, meeting, and supply expenses. Also included in the proposed budget is one consultant, the MDAC Government Affairs consultant, who will advise on policy development and support relationship management with key policy stakeholders. The proposed scope of work is aligned with CareQuest Institute’s efforts to increase and protect access to oral health care for all.