Case Study

Western Dental: Deep Cuts to State Services Due to Recession

Situation:

Dental care benefits under Medi-Cal – and the over 13 million Californians who depend on them – took a big hit in 2009. State budget constraints caused by the onslaught of the Great Recession resulted in deep cuts to state services, including basic dental care under the Medi-Cal program. Eight years later, as the economy slowly recovered, California lawmakers passed a bill that fully reinstated those reduced benefits, providing improved dental care services not previously included as covered benefits under Medi-Cal. The changes took effect January 1, 2018. Since then, Western Dental, the largest provider of Medi-Cal Dental services in the state, has created more awareness around who they are, what they do in the community, and affirm the change in coverage for Denti-Cal recipients.

Methodology:

Train executive leadership and target major, national consumer and trade media initially to create a baseline of coverage to build off of locally.

Results:

In less than six months, more than twenty outlets ran or syndicated coverage of Western Dental. Some of the top outlets include KPCC, ABC 7, KMEX and California Healthline.

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