Regardless of Health Care Reform, Free Dental Clinics Will Remain Open

The present operators of US free dental clinics will remain open and they anticipate that the waiting rooms will remain full, even in the face of healthcare reform. Free dental clinics are known for filling up fast since so many Americans lack adequate coverage for dental procedures.

Free dental clinics are always busy and have become even busier since economic hard times have affected many Americans. While healthcare reform is promising to eradicate the issue, many of the dental clinics that are now open are not anticipating much of a change in terms of the numbers of patients that they draw in each year.

The perfect situation would result if healthcare reform would wind up closing down the free dental clinics that are now open; if the coverage was adequate, the clinics would not be necessary anymore. Yet, chances are that the “perfect situation” will not occur and Florida clinic operators believe that they will continue to offer services to the same individuals that they have been giving free services too.

First of all, many changes are not going to happen until the year 2014. At that time employers will have to supply employees with proper insurance or run the risk of hefty fines, and the government will offer financial supplementation for people that are living at poverty levels.

Today’s Florida Clinics offer their services based upon the guidelines established by the state and supply patients with free dental care if they meet income guidelines. These clinics can end up treating as many as 20,000 people each year or more. Statistics are revealing that the number of patients in Florida visiting free dental clinics has risen as much as 25 percent since the year 2008.

Three quarters of all patients visiting such clinics are among the working poor. With the healthcare reform in place, even more clinics are going to be required to help treat those patients which are eligible for Medicaid, since Medicaid has been expanded to cover previously ineligible singles.

At this time, out of the many Florida dental clinics that exist, most of them cannot handle seeing all the patients that show up in a given day. This means that patients are turned away until there are available openings. Since healthcare reform will ultimately change who is eligible for government assistance, many more clinics will be required to meet the gradual influx of people seeking affordable dental and free dental clinics in the region.

Whether everyone will get adequate coverage for health and dental needs remains in question. Healthcare reform is presently leaving a lot of questions in the minds of American citizens as well as the medical and dental facilities that serve them. One thing is for certain; time will tell all. In the mean time, having some foresight into potential changes will ready dental and medical facilities to prepare for major changes in the coming years. At this point, it is clear that free dental clinics will not only remain open, but they will continue to be a vital part of the community.