California’s Dental Care System Failing Kids on Medi-Cal

Los Angeles Times —

Eight years after an independent state watchdog agency harshly criticized the state for failing to provide dental care to low-income children, California has failed to remedy the problem or fully implement the commission’s recommendations, according to a follow-up review published last week.

The Little Hoover Commission found that less than half of the children in Medi-Cal received an annual dental visit in 2022 — 3% higher than when the initial report was released in 2016, which implored the state to do more to ensure that children have access to needed care.

“California is still doing a miserable job,” said Pedro Nava, chair of the commission and a former member of the state Assembly. “We have failed generations of children. We and they deserve better.”

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