Katherine Edmundson didn’t know her 7-year-old son was off Medicaid until she took him to the dentist for his annual cleaning in February. An employee at the front desk told her that his coverage was invalid and that her son couldn’t be seen that day.
“At that time, he was already needing to be seen,” said Edmundson, a receptionist at a public school in Edinburg. “I was going to be charged over $100 just for a cleaning, and it was time for him to have X-rays done.”
After leaving the dentist with her son’s teeth still in need of a cleaning, Edmundson went home and immediately started another Medicaid application. She said she doesn’t remember receiving any notice from the state’s Health and Human Services Commission that her son lost coverage, and her income hadn’t changed since it was last renewed. Commission spokeswoman Carrie Williams said confidentiality laws prevented her from discussing individual cases.