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County adds dental care to Healthy Howard plan offerings

(The Columbia Flier) -- To address what they call a fragmented and often neglected piece of the health care puzzle, Howard County officials this week announced that they will add dental services to a larger plan that targets the county's uninsured.

County Executive Kenneth Ulman and Health Officer Dr. Peter Beilenson announced March 24 that a new partnership with the Connecticut-based insurance company Aetna Inc. will provide discounted dental services to participants in "Healthy Howard," a health care access program they intend to launch later this year.

"It's a major problem for ... virtually all uninsured folks in this country that they don't have easy access or any access to dental care," Beilenson said, adding that poor dental health is linked to other physical and mental health concerns, such as cardiovascular disease and poor self-esteem.

Part of larger plan

The discounted dental services are the latest piece in a larger county government plan, which Ulman announced last fall, to subsidize doctors visits and prescription drugs for the roughly 20,000 county residents who have no health insurance.

To qualify for the program, participants must earn an annual salary that is less than three times the federal poverty guideline, which this year is about $10,200 for an individual.

Pending the passage of state legislation that would allow the operation of the nonprofit organization the county created to administer the health plan, officials expect to begin enrolling an initial 2,000 participants in July and providing medical services to them in October.

The start-up costs for the program's first year would be about $2.8 million, including $500,000 from the county's budget, $700,000 from business and community sponsors, and $1.6 million paid by participants, Ulman said.

Users would pay between $50 and $115 per month for medical services depending on their income and the number of people the plan covers. The new dental component would add $1.65 for an individual or $3.30 for families to the monthly fee.

The County Council would be required to approve the county's contribution to the plan, which will be in the proposed fiscal 2009 budget Ulman is slated to release April 1.

Sponsors signing on

Aetna Inc. and the Aetna Foundation are the latest sponsors to sign onto the plan. Howard County General Hospital and the Columbia-based health care provider, Chase Brexton Health Services Inc., already have pledged support.

Aetna will donate $50,000 to the plan, in addition to providing discounted services to participants who visit the roughly 75 dentists, orthodontists and periodontists who are in the Aetna network in Howard, said Mike Bucci, an Aetna vice president.

The dental services would be discounted roughly 35 percent, Bucci said, adding that he expects the discounted services to be extended to participants beyond the initial 2,000 the county plans to enroll later this year.

Beilenson praised Aetna's support of the county's initiative to address the uninsured.

"It is free? No. Is it more affordable? Yes. Will there still be obstacles? Yes," Beilenson said. "It certainly is not a panacea but it's making it better."

County officials were expected to announce on March 28 a partnership with the Horizon Foundation, a Howard County-based nonprofit that provides grants to health initiatives, to help pay for the plan.

The foundation pledged an unspecified amount of financial support to the plan last year.

Article by: Jennifer Broadwater, The Columbia Flier
Jennifer Broadwater@patuxent.com