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John Daley ReportingBill Tibbitts, Anti-Hunger Action Committee: "Extremely frustrating, very sad."
A gap in funding hits low-income Utahns hard. A new KSL poll shows Utahns think lawmakers got it wrong when they turned down 2 million dollars in aid that would have helped. The state's poorest residents are still smarting after Utah's lawmakers refused to authorize 2 million dollars for critical dental services.
An exclusive new Survey USA poll for KSL-TV shows most Utahns are sympathetic toward their plight. Lawmakers contend, with many competing needs, this one just wasn't high enough on the priority list. But a new poll shows Utahns think emergency dental care for those who don't have it should have been funded.
In March, we were shown the mouths of those needing critical Medicaid dental funding. In Utah they number more than 40-thousand elderly, blind and disabled. With the federal government facing severe budget woes, lawmakers had to decide whether to okay $2 million in state money to restore funding. At a special session last week they declined to put it up for a vote.
A new Survey USA poll of 500 people for KSL-TV finds most do not support that move. We asked if you think lawmakers should or should not have funded the dental spending. 61% say the state should have spent the money, 26% say 'NO', and 13% are not sure.
Medicaid recipients, low-income advocates, as well as dentists say early emergency dental care saves plenty of money later.
Bill Tibbitts, Anti-Hunger Action Committee: "If the emergency dental money is not put back in, what you're going to have is that people are going to get toothaches, those toothaches are going to become infected, they're not going to be able to get the treatment, and eventually they're going to wind up in the emergency room."
Dr. Craige Olson, Chairman, Utah Oral Health Coalition: "Frustrating because it's causing pain that could be prevented. And frustrating because it's costing me, as a taxpayer, many more times than it should because I can do it preventively way less expensive than in a surgical setting."
Lawmakers argue the dental care is not unimportant, but lost out to other priorities, like funding for mental health, the medical examiner and birth defects.
Still, our poll finds a slight majority think Utah spends too little on healthcare for the poor, elderly and disabled. As for who should pay, 40% say the federal government, 27% the state, just 9% say the poor, elderly and disadvantaged themselves.
Advocates say those who qualify for this Medicaid funding get an average check of $603 a month to live on, so any emergency dental care is simply too expensive for them. This money would go to reimburse at least some of the costs for dentists who deliver this care.
