Missouri Report – Nov 2020

As with everyone COVID has dominated our world here in Missouri in 2020. We are gearing up for a battle to keep what little we have for dental funding from being gutted in the 2021 budget. In Missouri by law we need to pass a balanced budget and that will be exceedingly difficult this year with tax revenues way down and spending on public health way up. Thankfully, the state dental director is a friend of the MOAPD and has a deep understanding of the need for pediatric oral health. Building my relationship with him has been one of the keys to our success in recent years. We have had one win in 2020! We were able to get a sedation score sheet thrown out that one of the managed care plans was attempting to implement in order to restrict OR coverage. Always nice to win one for the kids in a year when winning is scarce.

Submitted by Dr. Aaron C. Bumann, Missouri PPA