PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- A locally based health care provider is taking new measures to help people with disabilities get proper dental care.
Deb Jastrebski has an adult son with down syndrome. When the people at AmeriHealth Caritas made the public announcement that they would be taking measures to treat people with disabilities, she teared up. Jabreski says hearing that the insurance company would take measures to properly train their dentists and promote an environment where people like her son could get care, made her emotional because of her family's pervious run-ins with the health care industry.
"For me, it's sitting still when I'm waiting for a routine check-up and trying to relax," he explained.
Dr. Larry Paul, Vice President of Dental Health Programs at AmeriHealth Caritas, says negative office experiences can prevent patients from coming in regularly to get proper dental care.
"We just want there to be more of an understanding among the dental community that this group of people with disabilities is underserved," Paul said.
And so he says they're changing their model by training dentists, offering higher reimbursements for patients with disabilities who need longer visits, changing their office environments and overall providing more support to families with disabilities.
"Every patient has to be met on their own comfort level," Paul said, "and for somebody with a disability, often times that comfort level is different than somebody who does not have a disability."