DENTAL HYGIENE

Christine Farrell (BSDH 1981), Medicaid Policy Specialist for the State of Michigan (right) and Marge Green, American Dental Hygienists' Association president, in front of the House Office Building in Washington, D.C. Farrell spoke to a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services about the importance of improving access to oral health care in the U.S.

A U-M School of dentistry dental hygiene alumna, who is in a leadership role with the Michigan Department of Community Health, appeared before a Congressional committee in April urging lawmakers to help the State of Michigan expand the Healthy Kids Dental program.

Christine Farrell, a Medicaid policy specialist who was chosen by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to represent Michigan Medicaid, was one of six persons invited to testify before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health. The full committee is chaired by Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan).

Improved Access to Care Needed

"We are in challenging economic times in Michigan, and we continue to look at innovative ways to improve access to oral health care," Farrell told the legislators. "Additional federal support would assist Michigan and other states in crafting solutions to improve and expand access to this critical benefit for children."

Healthy Kids Dental is a partnership that involves Michigan Medicaid and Delta Dental. The program has been identified by the American Dental Association and the American Association of Pediatric Dentists as a successful model for other states to emulate.

Under the program, Medicaid dental benefits are offered through Delta Dental in 59 of the state's 83 counties to low-income children less than 21 years of age.

When the program was created in 2000, the Michigan legislature appropriated nearly $11 million to increase access to children's oral health care in rural counties. Currently, the appropriation is approximately $34 million.

The subcommittee's hearings brought attention to the problem of access to dental care for underserved children. The hearings were sparked by the death of a 12-year-old in Maryland who died from complications from an abscessed tooth.

A First... and an Honor

In April, Dingell introduced the Children's Dental Health Improvement Act of 2007, designed to expand dental coverage to more low-income children, ensure access to qualified dentists, and improve the reporting and tracking of dental diseases among children. He also introduced the Children's First Health Act (HR 1535).

"This was the first time I testified before a Congressional committee," Farrell said. "But I didn't learn until after I completed my testimony that not many state Medicaid directors have ever been invited to talk about their state's program, so it was an honor for me to describe the Michigan program to federal legislators."

Farrell earned a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene from U-M in 1981 and a master's degree in public administration from U-M Flint in 2006.

She was president of the Michigan Dental Hygienists' Association from 1993-1994 and national chair of the Medicaid/State Child Health Improvement Program from 2004 to this year.