Across Illinois, people on Medicaid are finding out the hard way that having dental coverage is not the same thing as getting an appointment. As dentists retire or quietly stop taking public insurance, routine cleanings and even urgent procedures are getting pushed back for months. Some patients end up paying out of pocket or driving long distances for specialty care, and advocates say the access crunch is hitting both city neighborhoods and rural towns.
Meg Reutter, executive director of the Illinois Oral Health Coalition, told ChicagoLIVE that her group is scrambling to shore up the system and bring more providers into the fold. According to FOX 32 Chicago, Reutter said a wave of retirements, paired with fewer dentists willing to accept Medicaid, is making timely care harder to come by for many Illinoisans.