Budget Cuts Force SE Minn. Dental Clinic Closing

BLOOMING PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- State budget cuts are forcing a southeast Minnesota dental clinic that serves the needy to close its doors.

Main Street Managed Care Dental Clinic of Blooming Prairie is closing at the end of the year.

The clinic treats 27,000 low-income patients a year. It's one of the few places in southeast Minnesota that accepts patients on state assistance.

Dentist John Flor tells the Post-Bulletin of Rochester the clinic is closing because of a series of reimbursement cuts over the past two years. As a result, he says the once profitable clinic lost $200,000 last year treating patients on Medical Assistance and Medicaid.

Area lawmakers say the problem of access to dental care for low-income residents needs to be addressed.

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