community health centers

Published on

New York Amsterdam News

…For many, Medicaid, which provides health insurance for low-income individuals and people with disabilities, can serve as a lifeline for accessing affordable dental care. Jointly funded by the federal government and state governments, Medicaid provides comprehensive dental care to children under the age of 21; coverage for adults varies by state. Only 11 states (not including New York) and Washington, D.C., provide extensive dental coverage for adults, according to data published by the CareQuest Institute.

Barriers to Medicaid acceptance

Finding a dental provider who accepts Medicaid can be a challenge. In New York State, the program reimburses participating dentists at about a third or less of average dental charges, according to 2024 data released by the American Dental Association. Only one-third of New York dentists accept Medicaid, according to a report by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at The State University of New York at Albany.

Read Article

 

Published on

The Buffalo News

Physician shortages, especially in primary care, have become a problem throughout the United States, as fewer medical students go into the field and older doctors retire. Primary care includes internal and family medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology.

There were about 1,500 primary care doctors in 2015 in Western New York, about 70 percent of them in family or internal medicine, according to the University of Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies. This region had 72.2 family and internal medicine doctors per 100,000 population compared to a statewide average of 85.5.

Read Full Article