G-2310-19998

Kentucky Voices for Health (KVH) is a statewide nonprofit that aims to address the underlying causes of poor health by connecting Kentuckians with opportunities to make change through policy advocacy. KVH has been in the field of health advocacy since 2007, and is well connected with the Kentucky Oral Health Coalition (KOHC), Community Catalyst, Families USA, and co-chairs the Kentucky State Health Improvement Plan Access to Care Workgroup.

Funding this project will allow KVH to build and enact recommendations from KOHC’s recent landscape assessment of oral health, funded by CareQuest Institute, hold listening sessions with oral healthcare consumers, and survey their network of community members and providers across the state to determine the most underserved areas and unmet needs. KVH acknowledges that increasing dental benefits does not necessarily increase access to care and has a multi-pronged approach to address barriers to care including transportation, regulatory issues with managed care organizations and an inadequate oral health workforce that could be addressed through expanded community health worker reimbursement and the introduction of dental therapists.

This proposal falls under the subprogram Strengthen Community Voice and State Advocacy. It leverages key timing as ongoing political discussions seek to repeal recently passed legislation that expanded Medicaid, including dental coverage.

Key Activities include:
Advocacy efforts around the permanent adoption and implementation of the recent expansion of adult Medicaid dental coverage.
Leveraging community voice around oral health issues through listening sessions for rural and urban Medicaid consumers and oral health providers
Connecting stories gathered to KVH’s Health Justice Action Network Community Ambassador program that are members of the community that advocate directly for issues affecting the community.

The budget for this proposal is $125,000, which represents 13% of the total organizational budget. Included in the budget are funds for salaries for outreach, communications and policy advocacy, community interview incentives and a videographer to record community interviews.