Medicaid Providers

If you are already a provider or just signed up, please click here to let the LDA know so that we can maintain updated records.

For the most recent updates and information from the Department of Health and Hospitals, visit the Louisiana Medicaid Web site at www.lamedicaid.com.

Dental Benefits Covered by Each of Healthy Louisiana's 5 Health Plans

Healthy Louisiana (previously called Bayou Health) is the way most of Louisiana's Medicaid and LaCHIP recipients receive health care services. In Healthy Louisiana, Medicaid recipients enroll in a Health Plan. These Plans differ from one another in several ways, including their provider networks, referral policies, health management programs and extra services and incentives offered. Each of these Plans is accountable to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH).

Healthy Louisiana features five health plans, and each offers dental benefits for Adults 21 years and older, beyond the traditional adult denture services and dental care for children and adolescents that have been available under Medicaid in Louisiana previously.

The five Healthy Louisiana plans are:

Aetna Better Health
Healthy Blue (formerly Amerigroup Real Solutions)
Amerihealth Caritas Louisiana
Louisiana Healthcare Connections
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan

A dentist is NOT required to be a certified provider with MCNA (broad coverage to children under 21 years of age) to enroll as a Healthy Louisiana dental provider. Because of this, there is an opportunity for dentists to participate in one or more of these Healthy Louisiana plans.

HOW TO CONTRACT WITH MCNA DENTAL (Louisiana's dental benefit program manager)

In 2014, MCNA Dental was selected by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to administer its Medicaid and CHIP dental programs statewide. MCNA would like to invite all Louisiana dentists to join the MCNA network of dentists. For your convenience, the documents that must be completed and submitted for credentialing are available on our website http://www.mcnala.net/

• Credentialing Application (Please submit one application per dentist)
• W-9 Form
• Direct Deposit EFT Form

In order to ensure your facility is listed in their provider directory, please complete each of the documents and fax them to 1-504-335-2263, or email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

HOW TO CONTRACT WITH BAYOU HEALTH (Louisiana's medical Medicaid program managers, updated 1/7/16)

All five Bayou Health plans offer a limited dental benefit in addition to the current Medicaid Dental Benefit managed by MCNA.

Amerigroup, AmeriHealth Caritas of Louisiana (ACLA), and Aetna all contract with DentaQuest to manage the dental benefit. Information relative to credentialing and benefits offered can be found on the Dentist Page link at www.dentaquest.com/Louisiana or by contacting the credentialing hotline at 1-800-233-1468.

Louisiana Health Care Connections (LHC) only enroll FQHC/RHCs for the delivery dental services. Providers providing dental services via an FQHC/RHC should contact LHC for credentialing information at 1-866-595-8133.

United Healthcare Community Plan of Louisiana (UHC) ask interested dental providers to contact the United Healthcare Dental Provider Services line at 1-844-275-8751.

ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHR)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or the "HITECH Act," which established programs under Medicare and Medicaid to provide incentive payments for the "meaningful use" of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology.

There is *no federal deadline* for adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) by dentists who do not submit claims to Medicare. However, Medicare eligible professionals will have a payment adjustment in their Medicare reimbursement for failure to implement “meaningful use” of EHRs starting in 2015. Eligible professionals may begin participating in the Medicare EHR incentive program as early as 2011, and the program ends in 2016.

The Medicare and Medicaid program aspects of HITECH may not affect most dentists because many dentists do not provide Medicare-covered services or meet the Medicaid incentive program patient-volume threshold. However, dentists should not ignore other aspects of HITECH, especially those parts concerning Privacy, Security, and the Breach Notification Rule.

Louisiana has already started a Medicaid EHR Incentive Program in which eligible medical professionals and hospitals can receive incentive payments for adopting, implementing or upgrading certified EHR technology during their first year of participation, and can earn payments for up to five subsequent years for demonstrating meaningful use of EHR.

Learn more about deadlines and signing up to participate in the EHR Incentive Program through DHH.

ADA has also posted resources for our member's benefit.

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)

HPSAs are defined service areas that demonstrate a critical shortage of primary care physicians, dentists, or mental health providers. An HPSA can be a distinct geographic area such as a parish or grouping of census tracts, a specific population group within a defined geographic area (such as a population under 200% poverty), or a specific public or non-profit facility such a state hospital. You can learn more about HPSAs by visiting the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) website.

Dental Resources