Dr. Cilia Zayas, Postdoctoral Associate in the University of Florida Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, and Dr. David J. Meyers, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown University, recently published a policy commentary in Health Affairs Forefront, “Medicare Advantage Dental Benefits Are Growing, But the Data Needed for Accountability Are Not.” The commentary examines the rapid expansion of dental benefits in Medicare Advantage and highlights critical gaps in the data needed to evaluate dental benefit performance across plans. The authors outline opportunities to strengthen data reporting and measurement infrastructure to support greater transparency, accountability, and evaluation of how dental benefits affect access to care for older adults.
Dr. Zayas has also recently published a peer-reviewed study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth with Dr. Sarah Gordon of the Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. Hawazin Elani of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Dr. Astha Singhal of the University of Florida College of Dentistry. The study, “Medicaid Dental Coverage and Racial/Ethnic Variation in Preventive Dental Care and Unmet Needs During Pregnancy,” found that state Medicaid dental benefits were associated with greater use of preventive dental care and lower unmet dental need during pregnancy. In subgroup analyses, Medicaid dental benefits were associated with a higher likelihood of receiving a dental cleaning across major racial and ethnic groups, with the largest estimated increases in dental cleaning observed among Black and Hispanic pregnant women. The findings underscore the potential for Medicaid dental benefits to improve access to care and advance oral health equity among pregnant populations.
Together, these publications highlight Dr. Zayas’s research on how dental coverage policy, benefit design, and accountability influence access to oral health care across the life course.