{"id":77336,"date":"2025-11-18T09:38:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T17:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77336"},"modified":"2025-11-18T09:38:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T17:38:33","slug":"millions-of-californians-missing-out-on-free-dental-and-vision-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77336","title":{"rendered":"Millions of Californians Missing Out on Free Dental and Vision Care"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Selen Ozturk<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Although Medi-Cal fully covers routine eye exams, dental cleaning and checkups, many of the nearly 15 million Californians enrolled overlook these free services.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Although Medi-Cal fully covers routine eye exams, dental cleaning and checkups, many of the nearly 15 million Californians enrolled overlook these free services.<\/p>\n

Although dental care is key to preventing serious health issues like tooth decay, infections and vision loss, only one in five adults on Medi-Cal \u2014 California\u2019s version of Medicaid \u2014 use their dental benefits each year.<\/p>\n

As routine eye care can prevent issues well beyond vision including diabetes, hypertension and neurological disorders, Medi-Cal coordinates this often-overlooked benefit with other services: \u201cFor an unhoused member with diabetic retinopathy, for example, blood sugar management, transportation to appointments and housing stability alongside eye care,\u201d said Donny Shiu, vision program chief at the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), at an American Community Media briefing.<\/p>\n

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Donny Shiu, Vision Program Chief, DHCS, explains how vision care supports overall health and discusses the vision care services available to Medi-Cal members.<\/em><\/p>\n

Full Medi-Cal members can get eyeglasses and a free routine eye exam \u2014 which includes screening for conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration and irregular eye pressure \u2014 every 24 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf all the orders that come in, we fulfill every single one,\u201d said Shiu. \u201cIf you\u2019re a Medi-Cal member with full benefits, you are entitled to vision benefits \u2026 All you have to do is ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roughly one million eyeglasses are distributed through Medi-Cal every year, shipped at an average under two weeks per order.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne very unique coverage that we do is artificial replacement eyes for people who lost their eye, whether it be disease or injury,\u201d Shiu added. \u201cWe also cover special lenses. For example, somebody unable to wear glasses due to missing an ear can get medically necessary contact lenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members can access these services by finding a vision provider directly through the\u00a0health plan<\/a>\u00a0they\u2019re enrolled in, with no referral required.<\/p>\n

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Dana Durham, Dental Division Chief, DHCS, discusses the scope of coverage for Medi-Cal\u2019s dental care services and explains why Medi-Cal members should not be paying for dental care.<\/em><\/p>\n

Full members also qualify for dental care, said Dana Durham, DHCS dental division chief: \u201cA Medi-Cal member should never be paying for dental care \u2026 If something is medically necessary and appropriate, Medi-Cal will cover that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dental services covered include diagnostic and preventive hygiene like examinations, x-rays and teeth cleanings; emergency operations for pain control; tooth extractions; fillings; root canal treatments; crowns; scaling and root planing; periodontal maintenance; and complete and partial dentures.<\/p>\n

As of July 1, 2026, however, non-pregnant adults aged 19 and older who are undocumented immigrants, have had a green card for less than five years or are Permanently Residing Under Color of Law will not qualify for full-scope Medi-Cal, but only for emergency dental care.<\/p>\n

Income-eligible youth under 19 will continue to be eligible for full dental benefits regardless of immigration status, as will pregnant adults up to a year after giving birth.<\/p>\n

A full list of eligible and non-eligible immigration statuses is available\u00a0through DHCS here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOral health really is tied to overall health. For example, bleeding gums are sometimes an indication that you might have diabetes or be headed towards diabetes,\u201d said Durham. \u201cThese services really are meant to help prevent pain and avoid costly emergencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find a provider, members can use the DHCS\u00a0Find-A-Dentist<\/a>\u00a0tool or use dental directories through\u00a0Smile California<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Eileen Espejo, Senior Managing Director of Health, Children Now, discuses the impact of poor oral health on a child\u2019s academic performance and emotional wellbeing.<\/em><\/p>\n

For both dental and vision care, \u201cprevention is key, and it starts in childhood,\u201d said Eileen Espejo, senior managing health director at\u00a0Children Now<\/a>, a statewide children\u2019s advocacy nonprofit. \u201cPlease, please, make sure that you\u2019re taking your child for regular dental and vision checkups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOral health alone has cascading effects on a child\u2019s social health, mental health, their physical health,\u201d she explained. \u201cIf a child has tooth pain, that can lead to difficulties in sleeping, in eating, in talking and speaking. It can lead to difficulties in concentrating, say, on a school lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Healthy Schools Campaign<\/a>\u00a0finds that in the U.S., \u201cchildren ages five to 17 miss nearly two million school days in a single year due to dental health problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0survey<\/a>\u00a0finds that \u201cMore than 1 in 10 children aged 2\u20135 years had at least one untreated cavity in their baby teeth. By age 6\u20138 years, it was nearly 1 in 5 children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSimilarly to oral health, if a child is not able to see clearly, they\u2019re also more likely to be suffering from social isolation or academic performance issues,\u201d said Espejo.<\/p>\n

One in five U.S. preschoolers have vision problems, and by the time they enter grade school,\u00a0one in four will need corrective lenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to wait and see a child in pain from something that\u2019s preventable,\u201d Espejo added, \u201cand the best way to normalize this care is if the parents are going to the dentist or eye doctor too \u2026 Good health habits start with the adults.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BySelen Ozturk Nov 18, 2025 Although...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77337,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77336\/revisions\/77337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}