The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Pediatric Medical Clinicians' Application of Fluoride Varnish.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Fluoride varnish reduces children's tooth decay, yet few clinicians provide it. Most state Medicaid programs have covered this service during medical visits for children aged 1 to 5 years, but private insurers began covering it only in 2015 due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate that they cover a set of recommended preventive services without cost-sharing. Evidence on clinicians' behavior change postmandate is limited.

Objective

To examine monthly changes in fluoride varnish applications among pediatric clinicians following the ACA mandate.

Design, setting, and participants

Using all-payer claims data from Massachusetts, this cohort study applied an interrupted time-series approach with linear regression models comparing changes

SUBMITTER: Gracner T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10646725 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature