Report eyes dental care costs for farm and ranch operators

Boston鈥擜n issue brief released April 29 reports that only 42 percent of farm and ranch operators in seven Great Plains states have dental insurance and their average dental and vision care out-of-pocket expense exceeded the average amount spent out-of-pocket on prescription medications in 2007.

The Costs of Dental Care and the Impact of Dental Insurance Coverage is the fourth in a series of issue briefs examining health care costs of farm and ranch families in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Data for the 2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators was collected from 2,017 non-corporate farm and ranch operator respondents to a telephone survey. The Access Project, a Boston-based resource center for local communities working to improve health and health care access conducted the survey. The Access Project joined with the University of North Dakota center for Rural Health and Brandeis University to gather data about farmers’ and ranchers’ health care costs and insurance coverage.

Key findings of the dental brief include:

• Three-quarters of survey respondents reported having dental out-of-pocket costs.
• Forty-two percent of respondents had dental insurance, lower than the national rate of 60 percent.
• Factoring in the estimated cost of premiums for those with dental insurance, the average amount spent on dental care was similar for those with ($978) and without ($1,007) dental insurance.
• Although the amount spent on dental care was similar for those with and without dental insurance, those without dental insurance experienced much greater variability in their dental expenses.
• Seven percent of respondents said they delayed dental care because of cost. Those without dental insurance were significantly more likely to have delayed dental care than those with dental insurance.

Dr. A. J. Homicz, a member of the ADA Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations, attended the National Rural Health Association’s 32nd annual Rural Health Conference May 5-8, and encouraged NRHA leaders to include oral health care in future policy discussions and advocacy efforts.

Dr. Homicz noted that survey participants who had dental insurance were more likely to seek regular and preventive dental care services.

“Although farm operators and ranchers without outside dental insurance may not reduce their dental care costs by obtaining dental insurance on their own, they could improve their access to dental care services and reduce disease burden,” said Dr. Homicz.

“This survey shows that individuals with dental insurance are more likely to seek dental care services and put more emphasis on prevention, and that can help them obtain and maintain good oral health.”

The complete report and more information on The Access Project can be obtained online at www.accessproject.org.

On May 4, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a new report, Hard Times in the Heartland: Health Care in Rural America, outlining the health care challenges facing rural communities.

The report notes that nearly 1 in 5 of the uninsured鈥?.5 million people鈥攍ive in rural areas; rural residents pay on average for 40 percent of their health care costs out of their own pocket, compared with the urban share of one-third; and in a multi-state survey, 1 in 5 insured farmers had medical debt. (The complete report is available online at www.healthreform.gov.)聽