Dental Health

California Healthline

"California's Medi-Cal dental system is already struggling to serve children and is unprepared for what's to come," said Wendy Lazarus, founder and co-president of The Children's Partnership. "California's kids deserve real access to quality dental care -- not a false promise of it," Lazarus said in a statement accompanying the recent issue brief, "Fix Medi-Cal Dental Coverage: Half of California's Kids Depend On It."

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Huffington Post

Recent changes affecting California's dental care system could worsen access to dental care for hundreds of thousands of children.  In this blog, Wendy Lazarus, Founder and Co-President of The Children's Partnership lays out an action plan to strengthen Medi-Cal's dental program for children. "The challenges laid out provide the opportunity for California to strengthen the system for everyone. It will require a lot of cooperation and political will to make these changes. TCP calls on the governor, legislators, and the public to ensure that California's most vulnerable kids will not be lost in the shuffle and left without the dental care they need," says Lazarus.

Our latest report on the dental crisis is available here. 

California's Children, by HSMC 

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New America Media

TCP released a report  on the crisis faced by many families whose children depend on Medi-Cal for their dental care. Jenny Kattlove, the author of the issue brief, is TCP’s Director of Strategic Health Initiatives. 

“The state has said that they feel there are enough dental providers, except for a few small counties … But, the program is not up to par. It can’t currently meet the needs of its enrollees, let alone those of a million new children,” Kattlove says.

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