Arkansas DHS plans to end Medicaid managed care dental insurance program

The Arkansas Department of Human Services building on Main Street in downtown Little Rock. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

The Arkansas Department of Human Services announced Monday that it will end its Medicaid managed care dental insurance program and move its recipients to a fee-for-service program.

DHS informed the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of this plan on Friday, according to a news release from the agency.

The fee-for-service program is expected to begin Nov. 1.

Under the managed care program, DHS has been paying a monthly amount per Medicaid beneficiary to Delta Dental of Arkansas and Managed Care of North America (MCNA). Under the fee-for-service coverage, the agency will pay dental care providers directly for Medicaid services.

This change “makes better sense for Arkansas patients, dentists, and taxpayers,” DHS Secretary Kristi Putnam said in the news release.

“After careful consideration of dental service utilization, the total program expenditures, and the work underway to ensure a holistic, efficient, and sustainable Medicaid delivery system for all Arkansans, DHS has determined that fee-for-service for Medicaid dental services is both the best and most cost-effective option at this time,” Putnam said.

The managed care dental program began Jan 1, 2018, and serves 572,047 Arkansans. Eligible beneficiaries will maintain their eligibility upon the transition to fee-for-service Medicaid, the news release states.

DHS serves close to 900,000 Arkansans with a variety of Medicaid programs, including ARHOME , the state’s version of Medicaid expansion. Advocates for Medicaid recipients have said that coverage is not broad enough and that DHS takes too long to process applications for benefits and respond to people’s questions and concerns.

In 2018, DHS implemented a work requirement that cut 18,000 people from Medicaid coverage but was struck down by a federal judge in 2019.

Putnam and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced last year that they would seek a federal waiver to require ARHOME recipients to work. Able-bodied adults who do not meet the work requirement would receive fee-for-service Medicaid coverage instead of a qualified health plan, which meets the federal Affordable Care Act requirement for “minimum essential coverage” and follows federal limits on deductibles, copayments and out-of-pocket maximum amounts.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services have not yet acted on that request.

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