Popular initiatives in 2014–2016 call for the introduction of mandatory dental care insurance in Switzerland: The contrasting positions at stake

Oral health status and coverage of oral health care: A five-country comparison

Oral health has received increased attention in health services research and policy. This study aims to assess oral health outcomes and public coverage of oral health services in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. Various indicators were used to compare oral health outcomes concerning the most common disorders by age group. Coverage of oral health services was analyzed according to the dimensions of the WHO Universal Coverage Cube. The results showed major differences in the coverage of services for the adult population: coverage was most comprehensive in Germany, followed by Belgium and Denmark. In Spain and the Netherlands, public coverage was limited. Except in Spain, coverage of oral health services for children was high, although with some differences between countries. Regarding oral health outcomes measured by the T-Health index, no country showed outstanding results across all age groups. While Denmark, the Netherlands, and Spain performed above average among 5- to 7-year-olds, Denmark and Germany performed above average among 12- to 14-year-olds, the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium among 35- to 44-year-olds, and Belgium and the Netherlands among 65- to 74-year-olds. The selection of countries of this study was limited due to the availability and quality of oral health data demonstrating the urgent need for the European member states to establish corresponding databases.

Did Dental Insurance Expansion Improve Dental Care Needs Among Korean Adults? Difference in Difference Analysis

BACKGROUND

In 2012, the Korean government expanded dental insurance for the elderly to promote improved access to dental care. We examined the causal effect of this policy on dental care needs, focusing on low-income older adults.

METHODS

We compared data before and after policy implementation using double difference (DD) and triple difference (DDD) analyses. We used the nationally representative data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2010 and 2016-2018. Individuals aged ≥65 years were included in the treatment group, and individuals aged <65 years were included in the control group.

RESULTS

Dental insurance expansion was associated with a paradoxical increase in perceived unmet dental needs among elderly individuals (8.8 percentage points increase, 95% CI: 4.7 to 13.0). However, there were improvements in dental prosthetics outcomes (denture wearing [4.0 percentage points, 95% CI: 0.2 to 7.9] and dental implants [5.0 percentage points, 95% CI: 2.1 to 7.9]; P < 0.01). Upon analyzing low-income elderly individuals using DDD analysis, we found that the insurance expansion led to a 21.6% smaller increase in unmet dental needs among low-income adults, compared to high-income adults (95% CI, -35.0 to -8.5; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Dental insurance expansion in South Korea resulted in improvements in access to dental prosthetic services overall. It also led to a smaller increase in unmet dental needs among low-income older adults, compared to high-income adults.

"To enroll or not to enroll": a qualitative study on preferences for dental insurance in Iran

BACKGROUND

Oral public health services are included in primary healthcare. Although oral diseases are preventable, improving oral health has become a concern in many countries. Evidence shows that functioning insurance coverage can significantly increase the use of dental health services, improve quality of services, and reduce financial barriers to utilization. Little evidence exists on households' preferences for dental insurance in Iran. This study seeks to identify the households' preferences for dental insurance in Tehran-Iran.

METHOD

This is a qualitative study. We interviewed 84 participants who visited selected public and private dental clinics in Tehran-Iran, from October 2018 until January 2019. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. We used a mixed inductive/deductive approach for thematic analysis of the interviews.

RESULTS

We identified two main themes and 12 sub-themes: pecuniary attributes (insurance premium, coinsurance, insurance coverage granted, discounting option, reimbursement of expenses), and non-pecuniary attributes (notification status, ethical issues, benefits package, contract providers with health insurance, quality of service centers, administrative process, and dental insurance scheme).

CONCLUSION

Our participants considered both pecuniary and non-pecuniary attributes for choosing a dental insurance package. Our findings could help, we envisage, policymakers understand Iranian households' preferences for a dental insurance scheme that they afford to buy.

Inequality in dental care expenditure in Iranian households: analysis of income quintiles and educational levels

Background

Oral health is a major public health issue which affects the human life. Access to dental care is one of the important factors in maintaining oral health. This study was aimed to investigate inequality in dental care expenditure in Iranian households.

Methods

The present study is a secondary analysis of a national cross-sectional survey. The data collected from the Households Income and Expenditure Survey in 2016 and 2017. The final sample consisted of 54,354 households living in rural and urban regions of all the provinces. Inequalities in household’s dental care expenditure per capita in respect to income quintiles and educational level were measured based on the Gini coefficient and concentration index.

Results

The results showed that about 8% of households had paid for dental care during the month before sampling. The Gini coefficient value was estimated to be 0.97 and 0.96 for dental care expenditure per capita respectively in absolute and relative measure. It indicated a significant inequality in the dental expenditure among the sample households. The values of concentration index were positive and significant for all dental care subcategories in respect to the provincial and national income quintiles as well as the educational level of the head of the household.

Conclusions

Income and educational inequality in the both absolute and relative dental services expenditure of the Iranian households were in favor of higher income groups as well as higher educational level of household heads. Income inequality was higher in total dental care expenditure per capita and all its subcategories than the educational inequalities of dental expenditure. In order to reduce these inequalities, the policymakers need to pay special attention to low-income households, particularly those with low-educated heads.

Insurance coverage expansion and inequalities in unmet oral healthcare needs in Korea: Repeated cross-sectional analysis, 2007-2015

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate whether Korea's 2012 health insurance expansion of adult dental care coverage reduced income-based oral health inequalities.

METHODS

This study analysed nationally representative repeated cross-sectional data from waves IV to VI (2007-2015) of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The main outcome variable is unmet dental needs due to cost, and the independent variable is household income. Further, the slope index of inequality (SII) and the relative index of inequality (RII) were calculated. Calculations were adjusted for income and stratified by age group, gender and survey period. Data from the three waves were pooled to estimate the SII and RII trend coefficients between survey years. These were tested using two-way interaction terms for each age group and gender.

RESULTS

Some changes in income-based inequality trends were identified. Relative and absolute inequalities in unmet needs (indicated by the RII and SII) decreased over time for most age groups. However, this trend was not observed for older women.

CONCLUSIONS

Income-based inequalities in unmet dental needs persisted among older women in Korea despite the insurance expansion. By contrast, after the 2012 insurance expansion, the absolute and relative inequality in unmet dental needs decreased for young and middle-aged as well as older adults.

The Impact of Expanded National Health Insurance Coverage of Dentures and Dental Implants on Dental Care Utilization among Older Adults in South Korea: A Study Based on the Korean Health Panel Survey

In South Korea, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) began its coverage of dentures and dental implants for older people in 2012 and 2014, respectively. This study aimed to investigate the impact of these policies on dental care utilization among people aged 65 years or older according to their sociodemographic characteristics. Data were collected from the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP; years 2012 and 2015). The statistical significance of the relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and the use of outpatient dental care, denture, and dental implant were analyzed. Results showed an increase of 5.7%, 1.4%, and 2.8% in the use of outpatient dental care, denture, and dental implant, respectively, over the course of three years. Including dentures increased its use by 2.5–3.7 times among people aged 70 years or older. Including dental implants alleviated the disparities among older adults based on age groups and duration of education, except those among uneducated people; however, it caused inequity according to household income. Some Korean older adults remain neglected from the benefits of the expanded NHIS. Therefore, older adults’ access to dental care should be enhanced by the implementation of policies to promote oral health care utilization, dental prosthetic services, and older adults’ insurance coverage.

Unmet Dental Care Needs among Korean National Health Insurance Beneficiaries Based on Income Inequalities: Results from Five Waves of a Population-Based Panel Study

This study investigates whether self-employed beneficiaries experience greater difficulties in accessing dental care than insured employees based on their income level. This analysis uses 2011–2015 data from the Korea Health Panel, a population-based and nationally representative sample, covering 7083 participants aged 18 years and older. We measured barriers to dental access based on unmet needs or the inability to receive necessary dental care owing to the past year’s economic burdens. The type of health insurance and household income are considered independent variables. We applied multiple panel logistic regressions and two-panel logistic regression models with a fixed-effects approach to analyze the data. Self-employed beneficiaries were 1.16 times (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08–1.24) more likely to experience unmet dental needs than were insured employees. Insured employees and self-employed beneficiaries belonging to the lowest income bracket were 1.76 times (95% CI = 1.53–2.03) and 2.33 times (95% CI = 1.89–2.87) more likely to have unmet needs than those in the highest income bracket. Self-employed beneficiaries were 1.31 times (95% CI = 1.21–1.43) more likely to experience unmet dental needs caused by economic burdens than are insured employees. Insured employees of the lowest income quintile were 4.15 times (95% CI = 3.41–5.05) more likely to experience unmet needs caused by economic burdens, while the odds ratio for self-employed beneficiaries was 5.47 (95% CI = 4.05–7.39). Our findings indicate gaps in unmet dental needs between self-employed beneficiaries and insured employees. The government should adopt strategies to reduce unmet needs among marginalized groups and redefine the role of national health insurance.

Public Dental Service personnel facing a major health care reform in Finland

Objectives

A health care reform will replace the health care and social services centred on public provision with a market-oriented system and enhanced competition between public and private sectors. The aim was to ascertain Public Dental Services (PDS) changes personnel anticipated and how dental services in the new “public” undertakings could be made more cost-efficient.

Materials and methods

An electronic questionnaire was sent to the Chief Dentists of a random sample of 12 PDS units in southern and northern Finland for distribution to their personnel; 71.0% responded.

Results

Most respondents (64.3%) believed that their PDS unit would not change. However, 45.4% foresaw a merger with another unit. More dentists (51.2%) were aware of market- and competition-oriented organisational forms to be introduced in the public sector than dental hygienists (35.0%) and dental assistants (27.3%; p < 0.01). Only 12.4% thought of moving to the private sector. To increase cost-efficiency in the new system, a majority suggested improvement in preventive care (79.8%) and increased use of dental hygienists (75.7%). A smaller proportion suggested longer opening hours (23.1%), higher patient fees (17.9%) or more paying patients (12.4%).

Discussion

Public sector employees had little knowledge and understanding of the coming reform and were badly prepared for competition with the private sector.

Política de Saúde Bucal no Brasil: as transformações no período 2015-2017

RESUMO Este estudo analisou a implementação da Política de Saúde Bucal no Brasil entre 2015 e 2017 em quatro componentes: ações institucionais, implantação, financiamento e resultados. Foram realizados acompanhamento dos sites do Ministério da Saúde (MS) e coleta de dados secundários sobre ações institucionais do MS, implantação dos serviços de Atenção Básica e Atenção Especializada, resultados alcançados (cobertura da primeira consulta odontológica, média de ação coletiva de escovação supervisionada e tratamentos especializados) e financiamento. Entre 2015 e 2017, houve aumento de 5,8% no número de Equipes de Saúde Bucal e de 6,4% no número de Centros de Especialidades Odontológicas. A cobertura de primeira consulta odontológica programática decresceu no período de 14,6% em 2015, para 10,5% em 2016 e 8,3% em 2017. Houve redução discreta do financiamento federal no ano de 2017, quando comparado a 2016. Verificou-se, em 2016, um cenário político restritivo para a saúde bucal na menor implantação de novos serviços, com mudanças sucessivas na coordenação nacional da política. É necessário aprofundar o estudo sobre o financiamento da política, visto que o aporte financeiro de 2016-2017 não está coerente com o pouco avanço na implantação e tendência de manutenção de resultados, com queda de indicadores específicos, como o de primeira consulta odontológica programática.

What should we expect from Switzerland's compulsory dental insurance reform?

BACKGROUND

A vast and heated debate is arising in Switzerland as a result of some recent citizens' initiatives aimed at introducing compulsory dental health care insurance. The Grand Conseils of the Vaud, Geneva, and Neuchâtel cantons recently approved three public initiatives and their citizens are expected to vote on the proposal in 2018. The process of collecting signatures has begun in several other cantons and the discussion has now moved to a national level.

DISCUSSION

At present, there is no scientific research that can help policy-makers and citizens to understand the main economic implications of such reform. We attempt to fill this gap by analysing three critical issues: the level and determinants of unmet needs for dental care in Switzerland; the protection of vulnerable individuals; and the economic sustainability of reform.

RESULTS AND SHORT CONCLUSIONS

The results show that income is not a unique determinant of barriers to access to dental care but rather, cultural and socio-demographic factors impact the perceived level of unmet dental care needs. The reform might only partially, if at all, improve the equity of the current system. In addition, the results show that the 1% wage-based contribution that the reform promoters suggest should finance the insurance is inadequate to provide full and free dental care to Swiss residents, but is merely sufficient to guarantee basic preventive care, whereas this could be provided by dental hygienists for less.