Full dental services have been restored to 350,000 Medicaid recipients in Missouri, but the judge’s preliminary order to restore those services threatens to create a financial crisis for one of Missouri’s largest state agencies. The legislature slashed the Medicaid dental program in half to save money. The state Social Services Department issued a rule stating it would only cover dentures or treatment of mouth trauma for adult Medicaid recipients. A St. Louis judge says he had to decide between “poor, sick Missourians and emaciated state coffers”. He has ordered the state to fully reinstate the dental services. A spokesman for the Social Services Department says a final ruling that agrees with the preliminary order could put a lot of pressure on a department that has little flexibility in its budget. No date has been set for a final argument on the case.
