In a move that was not altogether surprising, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) announced on Monday that it would discontinue the Healthy Smiles Dental Managed Care program and return to the previous Fee for Service system beginning on November 1, 2024.
The managed care system was implemented in 2018 following a report from the Medicaid Task Force that presented a comprehensive view of the state’s $9 Billion Medicaid program, of which dentistry was a small part. After reviewing proposals from four separate companies who bid to become the administrators, DHS settled on two: Delta Dental of Arkansas (Delta Smiles) and Managed Care of North America (MCNA Smiles.) As the first contract came to a close, DHS announced a new request for proposal (RFP) for the second contract. Both Delta Dental and MCNA bid for the contract as did DentaQuest and Liberty Dental, As a result, the DHS Office of Procurement selected all four vendors even though the RFP language stated that the state preferred “two but not more than three” vendors to manage the program. Following a significant level of pushback from a variety of entities, including ASDA, the state made the decision to eliminate the managed care program and return to fee-for-service.
It should be noted that not all details of the FFS system have been decided. It should also be noted that DHS has announced no plans to increase fees for Medicaid dental, which are 16 years old, instead stating that they will take the request under review. The fee increase remains the top priority for ASDA. The association misses no opportunity to state that a 2022 survey of Medicaid dentists revealed that 80 percent indicated they would discontinue participation in 3 years if the fee disparity was not addressed.
DHS released a statement yesterday stating that the agency forwarded a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to notify the federal government of its plan to “sunset the (managed care) program and switch back to Medicaid fee-for-service for dental services instead.”
The leadership of ASDA continues to monitor the situation and will work closely with all parties to make sure that the position of practicing dentists remains a strong consideration.
