GSDM Professor Testifies in Support of Increasing Dental Care Access for MassHealth Patients
Dr. Kadambari Rawal AEGD 10 DPH 18, clinical associate professor of general dentistry, testified at the Massachusetts State House in front of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing in July 2025 with Health Care For All and the Oral Health Advocacy Taskforce.
The legislation, “Take 10” (formally known as H.1401/S.888 An Act Increasing Access to MassHealth Dental Providers), will create a pilot program in 10 municipalities across Massachusetts that have a high number of MassHealth members but limited access to dental services and provide supplemental payment to eligible dental providers. In her testimony, Rawal shared anonymized patient stories in support of legislation.
“The goal of my testimony was to highlight that [I believe] MassHealth’s adult dental benefit should be expanded, and the existing benefits should be protected given the strong evidence of the impact on public health and healthcare costs,” Rawal said. “I also shared that [I believe] dentists should be incentivized to accept more MassHealth patients into their practices to reduce burnout and offset the administrative burden of filing claims.”
Rawal currently serves as District 1 representative (encompassing Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) at the American Dental Association’s Council for Advocacy on Access and Prevention, which is charged with furthering oral health literacy, disease prevention and intervention, access to care and community advocacy.
Rawal’s testimony focused on her belief in the importance of MassHealth adult dental benefits and on how vulnerable populations would be negatively affected if these benefits are cut. She shared that patients from less densely populated areas across the state can be forced to travel to Boston to receive dental treatment, causing financial strains.
According to the “Take 10” fact sheet, MassHealth members can have issues finding providers that accept their insurance and face long wait times that worsen existing oral health needs. Less than half of Massachusetts dentists accept MassHealth, compared with 73 percent of primary care physicians who do. Of dentists who do accept MassHealth, almost half were not able to see any MassHealth patients in 2024.
If budget cuts lead to a reduction in MassHealth adult dental benefits, Rawal said she believes patients who rely on Mass-Health are at risk of losing access to preventative and restorative care.
“Cuts to the adult dental benefit would overwhelm our healthcare system by shifting care to emergency departments and increasing avoidable costs,” Rawal said. “When preventable and treatable dental conditions go untreated, they can unfortunately turn into life-threatening complications.”
The legislation is in the deliberation process, and a final decision has not been made. Rawal said she is optimistic that her testimony provided the committee with valuable expert direct patient care insights.
“I can only hope that the testimony will help raise awareness among legislators about the state of oral health among vulnerable adults in Massachusetts, the importance of MassHealth adult dental benefits, the existing access to care concerns and potential consequences,” Rawal said.
(Note: Rawal testified as an individual, not as a representative of or on behalf of GSDM.)