Help Stop Denti-Cal Cuts

Children's Dental FunZone

To whom it may concern,

 

Children’s Dental FunZone strongly supports protecting Proposition 56 supplemental payments for Medi-Cal Dental in the 2026–27 State Budget.

 

Our organization provides dental care to more than 420,000 children annually, many of whom rely on Medi-Cal Dental as their sole source of oral health care. Proposition 56 payments are essential to maintaining provider participation and ensuring that these children can receive timely, preventive, and restorative dental services.


Since voters approved Proposition 56 in 2016, these supplemental payments have significantly improved access to dental care statewide. Eliminating them would force many providers out of the Medi-Cal Dental program, reduce appointment availability, and leave families with severely limited access to care. Preventive programs designed to reduce the need for more complex dental treatment would also be undermined if fewer patients are able to access services.



A reduction in participating providers would inevitably lead to staff layoffs, placing additional strain on the state through increased unemployment and reduced access to essential oral health services. Fewer dental providers would also result in more children seeking care in hospital emergency rooms for preventable dental conditions, care that is significantly more costly and less effective. Any short-term savings achieved by cutting Proposition 56 supplemental payments would ultimately be offset, or entirely eliminated, by increased emergency room utilization. Such cuts would reverse years of progress, undermine voter intent, and disproportionately harm California’s most vulnerable children.


Proposition 56 is critical to sustaining access to care, supporting the dental workforce, and advancing health equity. We respectfully urge the Administration and Legislature to fully protect Proposition 56 Medi-Cal Dental supplemental payments in the 2026–27 State Budget.


Sincerely,

 

Fariborz Rodef, DDS

Chief Executive Officer

Children’s Dental FunZone


Take Action

Dear [Legislator Name],


It is essential that you restore Proposition 56 tobacco tax funding for the Medi-Cal Dental program in the 2026/2027 fiscal year budget.  Nearly $900 million of funding in this federally matched program will be lost disproportionately to the millions of children and adults who rely on Medi-Cal Dental for their oral healthcare needs.


In overwhelmingly passing Proposition 56 in 2016, voters were told that the revenue would be used to expand Medi Cal access to care, including dental services.  Children, seniors, people with disabilities and minorities in low-income communities had been underserved and  were a priority!¹   


Dental providers increased by 34% (nearly 1,600), which resulted in improved oral and overall health of millions of Californians.  Dental office visits increased by 37%. 


Terminating Prop 56 funding will result in thousands of dentists leaving the program as the cost of running dental practices in California is higher than anywhere in the country due to high minimum wage and labor costs and the high expenses for insurance, equipment, supplies, and facilities.  The reduced access to care for our needy Californians would go against the fabric of what makes California a leader in providing healthcare to its residents.


Untreated oral disease leads to emergency room visits, hospitalizations, avoidable medical complications, missed school days for children, lost workdays for adults, and complications such as infections, diabetes complications, and cardiovascular issues. These will cost the state more!


Before Prop 56, the Medi-Cal Dental program rates had not increased meaningfully since the program’s inception in 1966,²  and were at 30%-40% of commercial rates.  Terminating Prop 56 will roll rates back to these minuscule levels.  It is unrealistic to think that dentists will accept them.  The inequity to the millions of Californians who rely on this program would be unjust.


I ask that you champion restoration of the Prop 56 funds in the current budget process to ensure that California continue to honor its commitment to our residents in need.


Thank you for your leadership and for your attention to this critical issue.


Sincerely,

[Your Name]



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¹See, e.g., “Weakness in Its Medi-Cal Dental Program limit Children’s Access to Dental Care” (2014, California State Auditor); “Denti-Cal Audit Summary” (2015, The Children’s Partnership); :”State Policy Reports” (2013-2018, Pew Charitable Trusts); “DHCS Internal and External Reviews Leading to the Dental Transformatiin Initiative (2014-2015)” published in response to federal and state oversight (2015, DHCS); “Academic and Policy Analyses” (2014-2018, UCSF Healthforce Center).


²In November 2024 voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 35, which was intended to provide funding for Medi-Cal programs, including dental.  Minimal or no increases have as yet been provided to the dental program.