On the basis of the Oregon plan, the first step was to poll a random group of citizens to set priorities among services. Your task force has gone one step further than the Oregon plan. Oregon polled...

On the basis of the Oregon plan, the first step was to poll a random group of citizens to set priorities among services. Your task force has gone one step further than the Oregon plan. Oregon polled only voting citizens. Your group has set a mechanism in place that also ensures input from a large contingency of Medicare recipients themselves. (One criticism leveled at Oregon policymakers was that their pool of voters did not include a proportionate number of Oregon Medicaid recipients.) Now the real crisis has come because several important services that the members of the task force hoped could be included are not. You now have to decide among yourselves how to make the final cuts but not tinker with the list created by the first part of the process that has received approval. The task force has before it six possible services that could be included for the state’s 20,000 Medicaid recipients (all estimated costs are annual, and the task force has $46,136,000 to adjudicate).

a. Preventive dental care for children ages 2 to 6 years. Includes a yearly check-up and teeth cleaning. Does not include fillings, orthodontics, or other acute dental or surgical services. Estimated cost: $3,760,000.

b. Outpatient mental health services (initial evaluation and up to 12 visits) for children and adolescents (ages 4 to 19 years). Does not include medications or hospitalization. Estimated cost: $8,000,000.