UPDATE: San Antonio Dentist Appointed to Medicaid Managed Care Advisory Committee Wants to Hear Dentist’s Concerns

UPDATE: Dr. Chu has a new email address for contact: hchu0101@gmail.com.

Dr. Henry Chu of the Chu Dental Group in San Antonio has been appointed to the State Medicaid Managed Care Advisory Committee.  He wants to hear from colleagues about their problems with managed care so he can represent their concerns.

Provide HHSC recommendations on managed care

Dr. Chu will be attending meetings of the Committee which, according to its website, "provides recommendations and ongoing input to HHSC on the statewide implementation and operation of Medicaid managed care. The committee looks at a range of issues, including program design and benefits, systemic concerns from consumers and providers, efficiency and quality of services delivered by Medicaid managed care organizations, contract requirements for Medicaid managed care, provider network adequacy, and trends in claims processing."

Issues of concern for dentists

Dr. Chu told TDMR that he was hoping to give a voice to dental providers who may be frustrated and on the verge of giving up on treating patients covered by Medicaid.

Some of the issues he personally wants to address are:

• denials of medically necessary treatment,
• non-payment for services rendered,
• slow payment,
• the increasing amount of unnecessary preauthorizations for restorations less than 3 years old,
• denials of these preauthorizations,
• denials for sealants, and
• representatives saying no preauthorization is necessary and it would be reviewed after treatment. After treatment, the claim would be denied and the dentist would not be able to charge the patient.

Date of next meeting

The next committee meeting is to be held August 13 in Austin.

Open invitation for dentists to contact him with their concerns

Dr. Chu said, "that he is doing this on behalf of our patients and colleagues...so I hope to hear from some of my colleagues."

He can be contacted directly by email at hchu0101@gmail.com (new email) or by phone 2104147954.