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Mich. Extends Dental Care To 70,000 Kids

LANSING (AP) - About half of Michigan's Medicaid-eligible children now qualify for dental coverage.

An additional 70,000 kids in Ingham, Ottawa and Washtenaw counties have been added to the Healthy Kids Dental program in the state budget that takes effect Tuesday.

The program is available to a half-million enrollees in 78 of Michigan's 83 counties. It remains unavailable to nearly a half-million poor kids in heavily-populated Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent and Kalamazoo counties.

Gov. Rick Snyder's administration and Delta Dental, the insurance company that administers the Healthy Kids Dental program, plan to hold a news conference Tuesday to celebrate the addition of three counties at a Lansing elementary school.

Dental visits are 50 percent higher for children who are enrolled in the program.

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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