Dentists demand full reimbursement of dental treatments for children

The College of Dentists (CMS) Cluj is requesting the management of the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) to fully reimburse dental services for children under 18 years of age, based on medical necessity and without limiting access through the monthly ceiling of the offices. CMS Cluj has submitted a series of proposals since last week regarding the increase in funding and the expansion of contracting in dentistry, with a focus on rural areas and small towns, where access to oral health services is deficient. "In Cluj County, we have less than 400 inhabitants for each dentist. There are doctors, there is infrastructure created in the private sector and there is availability for contracting. Within CMS Cluj, there are over 170 dentists who want to enter into a contractual relationship with the public social health insurance system. Therefore, by increasing funding and the number of contracts, medical capacity can be put to the direct benefit of the insured population," said the president of CMS Cluj, associate professor Dr. Bogdan Culic, quoted in a press release. According to him, the full reimbursement of dental services for children represents one of the most important long-term investments in the public health system and should not be conditioned by the monthly ceiling of the office. "We believe that children's access to reimbursed dental services should not be limited by the monthly ceiling of the office. The child must be able to benefit from the prevention and treatment services they need, when they are medically indicated, regardless of the exhaustion of the contracted ceiling of the provider," said Bogdan Culic.

• CMS demands increased funding

The professional organization demands a supplement of at least 30% of the budget and the number of contracts, as well as an increase in the monthly reference ceilings for dental offices. The proposal targets ceilings of 8,000 lei for dentists, 10,000 lei for specialists and 12,000 lei for primary care physicians.

CMS Cluj also demands that the new contracts be directed with priority to offices in rural areas, where access to oral health services is considered deficient. Subsequently, the contracts would be allocated to offices in small towns in the county and, then, to those in the municipality of Cluj-Napoca.

• Proposals for reducing costs and bureaucracy

The package of measures submitted by Cluj dentists also includes indexing by at least 30% the tariffs for dental work, in order to cover real costs.

CMS Cluj also proposes debureaucratizing administrative and technical procedures, introducing a flexible online scheduling system and simplifying access to radiological examinations without prior scheduling. Among the requests are also the settlement of teleradiographies, the cumulative reporting of labor performed during a single session and the clarification of the legal framework regarding direct payment by the patient of dental laboratory costs.