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AUGUST 2007
(Vol. 2, Issue 4)
IMPORTANT DATES
August 28,
2007: HWPP
Healthy Teeth = Healthy Kids plan release - Milwaukee,
WI
September 5,
2007: Wisconsin
Dental Examining Board - Madison, WI
September
28-29, 2007: WDHA
Scientific Session - Wisconsin Dells, WI
October 6,
2007: GMDA
Dental Day - Milwaukee, WI
November 16,
2007: WOHC
Annual Oral Health Forum - Stevens Point, WI
If you have
an event you would like added to this list please e-mail Matt
Crespin | |
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WOHC MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
WOHC Applauds La Crosse Area
Coalition
The La Crosse Area
Dental Care Advocacy Coalition recently met with Sec. Kevin
Hayden from the Department of Health and Family
Services. The Coalition has been meeting regularly
to address oral health access issues. Sen. Dan
Kapanke and Rep. Jennifer Schilling are working closely with
the group.
The Coalition shared with the
Secretary their efforts in different areas of oral health
including prevention, treatment
and addressing barriers their
residents face in accessing oral health care.
The Coalition also shared their
support of the Senate version of the state budget that
names La Crosse county as part of the 3 county $8 million
pilot project that would increase reimbursement rates for
children to market rates. Racine and Brown county are
also part of this pilot to increase the number of
providers and make dental care more
accessible. The WOHC would like to express its
appreciation for the work the Coalition is doing in
western Wisconsin and hope their dedication will have a
statewide impact.
This section of the WOHC Oral Health eBytes will
feature a dedicated member/organization of the coalition. If
you have any recommendations, please contact Matt
Crespin
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WISCONSIN
NEWS
Save the Date: WOHC
Annual Forum
Please save the date for the
upcoming Wisconsin Oral Health
Coaltion annual forum. This year's meeting
will be held at Country Springs Hotel in Stevens Point on
November 16, 2007. The keynote address will be given by
Lawrence Hill DDS, MPH, current president of the American
Association of Community Dental Programs and executive
director of the Greater Cincinnati Oral Health Council, a
position held for 20 years. In addition, models of
successful community oral health programs from across the
state will present. Due to last year's
popularity, a panel of legislators from the Stevens Point
area, as well as legislators involved with oral
health access issues will be assembled.
Invitations and more information will
follow.
2006-07
Seal-A-Smile Program Year
Ends
The programs
participating in the 2006-07 Seal-A-Smile
(SAS) program have had another successful
year. Last year, $82,516 of additional
funding, which the Department of Health and Family Services
received through a federal grant, was awarded to programs
statewide. These dollars are in addition to the
$120,000 that comes from Wisconsin general purpose
revenue. Of the 8,522 children screened, 5,602 received
22,138 sealants. Health education was provided to over
12,000 children. Unfortunately the rate of untreated
decay has climbed to 47.7 percent, far exceeding the state
average of 30.8 percent. For more information on the
Wisconsin SAS program or for data from previous years, contact
Matt
Crespin.
2007-08
Seal-A-Smile Funds Awarded
Recently, the 2007-08 Wisconsin
Seal-A-Smile (SAS) awards were announced. Twenty one
programs statewide received over $190,000 in
total funding for the 2007-08 school year.
Awards ranged from $2,000 - $30,000. This year's funded
programs are:
- Adams/Marquette
County Health Departments
- Bayfield County
Health Department
- Brown County
Health Department
- Chippewa County
Health Department
- City of Madison
Health Department
- Columbia St.
Mary's Madre Angela Dental Clinic - Milwaukee
- Dane County
Health Department
- Douglas County
Health Department
- Eau Claire
City/County Health Department
- Northeast
Wisconsin Area Health Education Center - Manitowoc
- Open Door Dental
Clinic - Door County
- Pembine School
District
- Portage County
Health Department
- Price County
Health Department
- Rural Health
Dental Clinic - Hayward
- Rural Health
Dental Clinic - Polk/Barron
- Sheboygan County
Health Department
- Vilas County
Health Department
- Waukesha School
District
- West Allis
Health Department
- Wood County
Health Department
Children's Health
Alliance of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition
congratulate these programs and wish them continued success in
their efforts to improve the oral health of Wisconsin
children.
Wisconsin Legislature Addresses Oral Health
Access
The state Senate and Assembly have passed versions
of the state budget and both address access to oral health
care. In the Assembly proposal $7 million is allocated
in the second year of the biennium budget to increase dental
Medicaid rates. This would be an 18 percent increase to
the current rates, however, still less than what is
needed to cover office overhead. The Senate
proposal includes a pilot project in three counties (Brown, La
Crosse and Racine) that would increase rates to market
based rates (close to the ADA 's 75th percentile) for dentists
serving pediatric Medicaid clients. Currently, a
bipartisan conference committee is working through
the differences. Ultimately, Leadership and Joint
Finance Committee co-chairs from both houses will make the
final decision before sending the budget to Gov. Jim Doyle for
review. The members of the committee reviewing this
issue are:
- Sen. Russ Decker
- Schofield
- Sen. Scott
Fitzgerald - Juneau
- Sen. Robert
Jauch - Poplar
- Sen. Judith
Robson - Beloit
- Rep. Michael
Huebsch - West Salem
- Rep. James
Kreuser - Kenosha
- Rep. Jeff
Fitzgerald - Horicon
- Rep. Kitty
Rhoades - Hudson
The Wisconsin Oral
Health Coalition urges you to contact these members to
express your support for significantly increasing MA
reimbursement rates. Raising Medicaid rates has
proven to increase access to underserved individuals in other
states. | |
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NATIONAL
NEWS
Seal
America Online Manual Released
The National Maternal and Child
Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) is pleased to announce the
availability of Seal America: The Prevention Invention, 2nd
Edition, an online manual designed to assist health
professionals in initiating and implementing a school-based
dental sealant program to prevent tooth decay in
children. Click
here to access this valuable online resource.
New York Takes Care To
Kids
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer
announced that the state is awarding $13.2 million in
grants to health care institutions that have agreed to sponsor
health centers in schools. "School-based clinics are an
innovative way of ensuring that children receive quality
health care," Spitzer said. "These clinics provide easy access
to health care professionals for checkups and treatment
without missing classes and without parents needing time off
from work. This is especially important for children who need
routine treatment for asthma, diabetes, and other chronic
conditions." The New York school-based health center program
was established in 1981 and is now the largest program of its
kind in the nation, with approximately 190,000 children
accessing centers at 197 schools each year. The grants range
in size from more than $1 million for Lutheran Health
Center in New York City to $9,942 for a smaller
program in the western part of the
state.
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FYI
Update: Trends in Oral
Health
Read this
alarming update that addresses the increasing number of
children ages 2 to 5 with tooth decay. In contrast,
several improvements were noted in other areas of oral health,
reportedly due to the increase in prevention strategies.
Click
here to read the full report.
2007 America's Children
Report
This report is celebrating 10
years of federal inter-agency annual reports on the health and
well-being of American children. This year's report
includes two oral health indicators. Click
here to view the report. Click
here to view specific oral health indicators.
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