Peer-reviewed article
Dental Care Access for Young Children With Medicaid: Groundtruthing Online Data and Actual Access in the Chicago Metro Area.
Crnosija N, Steele H, Mitchell A, Penaloza J, Mokbel A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether dental clinics in the Chicago area that claim to accept Medicaid insurance for children actually do so in practice. Researchers called 379 clinics listed online as accepting Medicaid and found that only 63% actually confirmed they accept it. Access to dental care was particularly poor in southern Chicago and southwestern suburbs, especially in areas with the most children on Medicaid and greatest poverty.
Key points
- Only 240 of 379 clinics (63.32%) identified online as Medicaid-accepting actually confirmed accepting Medicaid when called
- Overall catchment area met Health Professional Shortage Area threshold, but southern Chicago and southwestern suburbs had exceptionally poor access (less than 1 clinic per 10,000 population)
- Poorest dental access was in areas with the highest proportion of children on Medicaid and largest socioeconomic barriers
- Gap between online-reported and actual access demonstrates that directory data does not reflect realized access to care
Limitations
This study is limited to the Chicago metro area and may not reflect dental access patterns in other regions. The study measures availability but does not examine other barriers such as transportation, language, or acceptability of care.
Abstract
Background Many dental clinics reportedly accept Medicaid for young children per online sources, but parents' experiences suggest that this differs from actual access. Recognizing potential differences between reported and realized access, we studied realized dental care access and neighborhood-level barriers to care in the Chicago metro area. Methods We created a list of Medicaid-accepting dental clinics using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Insurekidsnow.gov "Find a Dentist" search engine tool. Limited to Coordinated Oral Health Promotion Chicago Cohort Study participants' ZIP Codes (N = 51), research staff called each clinic posing as parents trying to schedule their Medicaid-insured children for appointments. Dental clinic and participant addresses were geocoded; using American Community Survey data, we estimated the population's actual access to Medicaid-accepting clinics and neighborhood-level barriers. We used an Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area analysis to determine realized access and identify disparities. Results Of the 379 dental clinics identified online as taking Medicaid insurance for children, only 240 (63.32%) confirmed accepting Medicaid. The catchment area overall met the Health Professional Shortage Area threshold (1 dentist: 5000 population), indicating adequate access for the Medicaid-insured population. Yet, some southern Chicago/southwestern suburbs had exceptionally poor access (< 1 dental clinic: 10,000 population). Discussion Online data showed many dental clinics accepted Medicaid for children, but our study revealed that realized dental care access varied dramatically, with the fewest clinics in areas with the highest portion of children on Medicaid and the largest socioeconomic barriers. Multilevel change is needed to ensure access to critical dental health services for all.