September 16, 2024 • 14 mins
In this episode, Tom Raffio, President and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental, highlights the organization’s ongoing commitment to improving oral healthcare for Maine veterans. Thanks to a generous $330,000 grant from Northeast Delta Dental, the Maine Veterans' Dental Network (MVDN) will be able to continue providing essential dental services to veterans who otherwise would not have access to care. Raffio discusses how the grant aims to close the gap in dental care for veterans, emphasizing Northeast Delta Dental’s dedication to honoring those who served by ensuring they receive the dental care they deserve.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're talking with Tom Raphael from Northeast Delta Dental. Tom
is the president and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental. And
one of the most interesting things and press releases that
I've read in recent time is this press release that
came out Tom in, in February where Governor, Governor Janet
Mills of Maine announced that you had made a $200,000
grant to the Maine Veterans Dental Network. And I'm a
(00:23):
huge supporter of the US military
and our veterans. And I, and I saw that and
thought that that was one of the greatest, um, uh,
sort of great donations and a great cause for people that,
that really could probably use help. Um, specifically, you know,
sort of closing the gaps in, in terms of money and, and,
(00:44):
and dental costs, um, going up and to have them
insured and to have more people have access. Um, can
you tell me a little bit about what went into
that decision and also how it's going?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Sure. Well, first of all, you're correct that we're big
supporters of veterans and like you, we feel like not
enough is given back to our veterans as, as you know,
just a small percentage of people serve our country. So
the genesis of this, so several years ago, I discovered
(01:20):
that for the most part when a veteran goes to
the veterans affairs or va
not because of the great people at the va but
because of congressional or federal guidelines that roughly nine times
out of 10, they're not getting their dental care needs
met at the VA because they would have to prove
(01:42):
that they were either fully disabled or pow, for example.
So we uncovered that
and said, you know, what can we do? It'll be
a while before the federal government changes. So what can
we do as a company to, uh, to give back to,
(02:02):
you know, to the veterans? So, what we did is we,
we established our very generous board of directors, um, both
in Maine, which we're talking about as well as New
Hampshire and Vermont established a pretty significant budget
to help veterans get their oral care. So you reference 200,000,
(02:23):
we've actually now have it to $300,000 and we give
that money to fairly qualified health centers and then they
through the main veteran services, they coordinate the visits from the,
from the veterans. So the program is working extremely,
(02:46):
uh efficiently. Um The, um, the need is a lot candidly. Um,
we work um with Sarah Sherman who is the main
Bureau of Veteran Services Director, Director of Strategic Strategic Partnerships,
but
it's one of the most, uh, proud, uh, items in
(03:08):
my sort of professional career that we've, we've addressed this
need without, um, you know, worrying about when, when, and
if the federal government, you know, will correct it.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah. And why do you think that is, I mean, iii,
I suppose I could see the, the sort of matrix
of dental services where now the sort of red tape of,
of the va starts to involve, well, if you, if
you need a crown, but you were in the Vietnam war,
then you have to go to, you know, fill out
this form and so on and so forth. Did you
find a lot of things like that where it was,
(03:42):
it was, it was really important, sort of like oral
surgery versus, you know, just regular dental care that seemed
to be falling through the cracks.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It's really all of the above, you know, when I
speak with, when I speak with veterans, you know, many
haven't been to the dentist in a long time. Um, some,
as you point out maybe they just need some cleanings
but others have, you know, major surgical needs. So it's
just
(04:13):
getting the flow of veterans into fair, fairly qualified health
centers that we support by way of the main Bureau
of Veteran Services is so crucial to overall health because
you really can't have good overall health without good oral health.
And finally, people are recognizing that medical dental connection,
(04:35):
which, which hasn't been recognized for many years in society,
but now more and more people recognize that. And so, um,
there is emphasis now, for example, there is main care has,
you know, dental for adults
and we have another, a number, a number of other options,
um for underserved populations. Um, but this particular program is
(05:00):
really focused on veterans and has done, I think a,
you know, a remarkable job, um, you know, seeing, seeing
veterans and um, the letters I get from, um, New
Maine and New Hampshire, um
veterans who now can go, they say, well, now I
can go to a family reunion and smile and now
(05:22):
my health is better. Um, it really puts a big
smile on my face and there's also a connection
with mental health as well because if you are struggling
with your oral health that can drag you down from
a mental health perspective. And that's another one of my,
um, many passions is to improve the mental mental health of, uh,
(05:45):
of
veterans. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I mean, it's invaluable for socialization and,
you know, that's the hardest part, right? Getting lonely, like
as people get older, um being alone or, or being
able to socialize and, and certainly having a good smile, right?
Or good mental health or not being ashamed in some
way of what's happening with your teeth is probably goes
(06:08):
a long way to helping, uh folks socialize a little
bit more.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
That's so that's so true. And, and, uh, you would
not believe what good oral health can do in terms
of the psyche of, of, uh, veterans being able to
go to family reunions, weddings and feeling like they, you know,
you know, can, can smile. And I do want to, um,
(06:34):
give a shout out to, uh, Governor Mills. You referenced
that at the top for, um, you know, putting, putting
the word out that, you know, that we, that we
did the, the grant of 300,000 actually, um, and getting
and getting and getting the word out because, uh, once
the word um came out, we received, um, last year alone,
(06:57):
we received about
659 requests and over 500 veterans
um qualified for the program. All, all we ask is
to make sure that, you know, you are a veteran and, uh,
and working with the Maine Bureau of Veteran Services program, uh,
we can, we can do the, the necessary outreach. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
And if you are in Maine as a veteran, how
I was gonna ask that question? How do, how does,
how does one, you know either access a cer what
services are available? What's the q how do you get
involved if, if you are a veteran?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Sure. So you need to be a main resident. Um,
you need, uh,
yeah, you have to be in a situation where, um,
you don't have current, um, dental, dental, dental insurance and
you just need to submit a, uh DD 214 that
shows that you had an honorable discharge. And then it's
(07:53):
pretty simple. You call area code 20207287
6836. That's area code 207
2876836. And you'll be connected with a very helpful person, um,
from the main Veterans dental network and we'll, we'll see, um,
(08:16):
you know, where you're located, as mentioned, excuse me, we have,
what we did is we organized the $300,000 to about
23 nonprofit dental clinics, sometimes known as federally qualified health
centers or FQHC. So we have the Lincoln County Dental.
(08:37):
We have Kennebunk Valley Dentistry. We have Waterville Community Dental.
We have the UN E dental Clinic and that's the
dental school that we actually Northeast Delta Dental actually helps
start with a lead donation way back a couple
decades ago, about $2.3 million to get that dental school started.
And they have a clinic there where they see veterans. Now,
(09:02):
Kadin and several others. There's actually 23 dental clinics who
are located throughout New Hampshire, you know, in Bideford, Portland, Farmington, Le.
And we also have mainly teeth, which is a Portland
and Mobile dental clinic in Penobscot Community Health Center in Bangor.
So I think we've done a nice job of making
(09:23):
sure that there is, you know that there is access.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, and getting the word out. I would imagine, you know,
getting it to the veterans is, is very
sort of important to awareness and it sounds like it's going,
you know, swimmingly. Right. You've been able to get the,
the info out and had a lot of assistance along
the way. I'm sure with, you know, I, I can
only imagine the, the, the power of the ratings from
(09:48):
Delta Dental Radio once those start streaming in too.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Well, well, the show runs every weekend and I'm not
sure what the exact following is, but I will tell
you this after it runs.
Um, or if I appear in other live shows during
the week, that's when I, that's when the calls start
coming in. And in New Hampshire, I know we'll talk
about that at a different time, but the program actually
(10:15):
works directly through me. So actually, I actually speak to, uh,
the veterans directly. This program, you know, works
through, uh, Sarah Sherman and the founder of the, of
the veterans dental care program and the federally qualified health centers. But, yeah,
word gets out there relatively quickly. And when you say swimming,
(10:35):
I think it has been pretty efficient, but I also
want to be candid and realistic that, uh, you know,
that the need is large out there and, you know,
rather than wait for the federal government to change the guidelines,
so more,
uh, veterans can go to the va um, we are
(10:57):
seeing the veterans and are we seeing all of them
that are in need. No, but we're certainly, uh, certainly, uh,
veterans have the opportunity and, and in Maine, all they
have to do is call 2072876836. and they'll be, they'll
be hooked up with someone that can help them.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's fantastic. And just a quick, uh, sort of more
generic question, Tom. What do you, what are you finding at,
at Northeast Delta Dental uh in regards to people in
general beyond the veterans? Are, are you finding that there's
now a bit more awareness of, of just sort of
oral care, dental insurance in general? Are people find sort
of getting over the stigma stigma that that dental insurance
(11:40):
itself is not as expensive as you think it is
and that it's worth it.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
That's a great question. It's taken a long time. But
when the surgeon general came out with his first report
on oral health, which is back around the turn of
the century. For the first time, there was a recognition
of the importance of oral health, excuse me. And then
20 years later, they came, they came out with a
second report and they did definitely show a trend towards
(12:07):
people understanding the importance of oral health. So people now
are getting it
that it's not a luxury, it's part of overall health.
So I would say that, you know, we are definitely
advancing that oral health knowledge more and more dental right
(12:29):
after medical is the most desired benefit in any employer.
I think people not affiliated
with employers. I think we've done a good job of
setting up dental on both the public exchanges as well
as we have a private exchange called Delta Dental covers
me.com where you would just go on that website. Delta
(12:51):
Dental covers me.com. Click on main and then we have
a series of,
of very inexpensive dental programs for you to choose from.
And within a minute you can have a dental program.
So that's outside of this veterans program. But in answer
to your question, I think more and more the general
public is understanding that dental health isn't, isn't a luxury,
(13:16):
but you've got to prioritize it the same way you
go for your annual annual physical. Um, you should, you've
got to try to get to the dentist, you know,
twice a year. Some of us, we actually have a
program which demonstrates some of us need to actually go
three or four times a year. And so I think
to answer your original question. Yeah, more and more people
(13:37):
are understanding that and that's been a lot of work
and give you cite one example. It took probably
20 years of education and lobbying for the Maine and
New Hampshire legislatures in the last couple of years, establishing
an Adult Dental Medicaid program. We Maine and New Hampshire
(13:57):
were two of the last states in the country without
a dental program for people on Medicaid and that finally happened.
So that is testimony that our political leaders are also
understanding it.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Tom Raphael is the president and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental.
You can find them at Ne delta.com. If you're a
veteran in the State of Maine and are interested in
the program we've been discussing. The number is 2072876836 and
they can answer all your questions there, Tom, I appreciate
(14:31):
the time and thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Thank you for getting the help me getting the word
out that this is my passion and, and you're helping,
delivering the message. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
We're talking with Tom Raphael from Northeast Delta Dental. Tom
is the president and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental. And
one of the most interesting things and press releases that
I've read in recent time is this press release that
came out Tom in, in February where Governor, Governor Janet
Mills of Maine announced that you had made a $200,000
grant to the Maine Veterans Dental Network. And I'm a
(00:23):
huge supporter of the US military
and our veterans. And I, and I saw that and
thought that that was one of the greatest, um, uh,
sort of great donations and a great cause for people that,
that really could probably use help. Um, specifically, you know,
sort of closing the gaps in, in terms of money and, and,
(00:44):
and dental costs, um, going up and to have them
insured and to have more people have access. Um, can
you tell me a little bit about what went into
that decision and also how it's going?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Sure. Well, first of all, you're correct that we're big
supporters of veterans and like you, we feel like not
enough is given back to our veterans as, as you know,
just a small percentage of people serve our country. So
the genesis of this, so several years ago, I discovered
(01:20):
that for the most part when a veteran goes to
the veterans affairs or va
not because of the great people at the va but
because of congressional or federal guidelines that roughly nine times
out of 10, they're not getting their dental care needs
met at the VA because they would have to prove
(01:42):
that they were either fully disabled or pow, for example.
So we uncovered that
and said, you know, what can we do? It'll be
a while before the federal government changes. So what can
we do as a company to, uh, to give back to,
(02:02):
you know, to the veterans? So, what we did is we,
we established our very generous board of directors, um, both
in Maine, which we're talking about as well as New
Hampshire and Vermont established a pretty significant budget
to help veterans get their oral care. So you reference 200,000,
(02:23):
we've actually now have it to $300,000 and we give
that money to fairly qualified health centers and then they
through the main veteran services, they coordinate the visits from the,
from the veterans. So the program is working extremely,
(02:46):
uh efficiently. Um The, um, the need is a lot candidly. Um,
we work um with Sarah Sherman who is the main
Bureau of Veteran Services Director, Director of Strategic Strategic Partnerships,
but
it's one of the most, uh, proud, uh, items in
(03:08):
my sort of professional career that we've, we've addressed this
need without, um, you know, worrying about when, when, and
if the federal government, you know, will correct it.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah. And why do you think that is, I mean, iii,
I suppose I could see the, the sort of matrix
of dental services where now the sort of red tape of,
of the va starts to involve, well, if you, if
you need a crown, but you were in the Vietnam war,
then you have to go to, you know, fill out
this form and so on and so forth. Did you
find a lot of things like that where it was,
(03:42):
it was, it was really important, sort of like oral
surgery versus, you know, just regular dental care that seemed
to be falling through the cracks.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It's really all of the above, you know, when I
speak with, when I speak with veterans, you know, many
haven't been to the dentist in a long time. Um, some,
as you point out maybe they just need some cleanings
but others have, you know, major surgical needs. So it's
just
(04:13):
getting the flow of veterans into fair, fairly qualified health
centers that we support by way of the main Bureau
of Veteran Services is so crucial to overall health because
you really can't have good overall health without good oral health.
And finally, people are recognizing that medical dental connection,
(04:35):
which, which hasn't been recognized for many years in society,
but now more and more people recognize that. And so, um,
there is emphasis now, for example, there is main care has,
you know, dental for adults
and we have another, a number, a number of other options,
um for underserved populations. Um, but this particular program is
(05:00):
really focused on veterans and has done, I think a,
you know, a remarkable job, um, you know, seeing, seeing
veterans and um, the letters I get from, um, New
Maine and New Hampshire, um
veterans who now can go, they say, well, now I
can go to a family reunion and smile and now
(05:22):
my health is better. Um, it really puts a big
smile on my face and there's also a connection
with mental health as well because if you are struggling
with your oral health that can drag you down from
a mental health perspective. And that's another one of my,
um, many passions is to improve the mental mental health of, uh,
(05:45):
of
veterans. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I mean, it's invaluable for socialization and,
you know, that's the hardest part, right? Getting lonely, like
as people get older, um being alone or, or being
able to socialize and, and certainly having a good smile, right?
Or good mental health or not being ashamed in some
way of what's happening with your teeth is probably goes
(06:08):
a long way to helping, uh folks socialize a little
bit more.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
That's so that's so true. And, and, uh, you would
not believe what good oral health can do in terms
of the psyche of, of, uh, veterans being able to
go to family reunions, weddings and feeling like they, you know,
you know, can, can smile. And I do want to, um,
(06:34):
give a shout out to, uh, Governor Mills. You referenced
that at the top for, um, you know, putting, putting
the word out that, you know, that we, that we
did the, the grant of 300,000 actually, um, and getting
and getting and getting the word out because, uh, once
the word um came out, we received, um, last year alone,
(06:57):
we received about
659 requests and over 500 veterans
um qualified for the program. All, all we ask is
to make sure that, you know, you are a veteran and, uh,
and working with the Maine Bureau of Veteran Services program, uh,
we can, we can do the, the necessary outreach. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
And if you are in Maine as a veteran, how
I was gonna ask that question? How do, how does,
how does one, you know either access a cer what
services are available? What's the q how do you get
involved if, if you are a veteran?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Sure. So you need to be a main resident. Um,
you need, uh,
yeah, you have to be in a situation where, um,
you don't have current, um, dental, dental, dental insurance and
you just need to submit a, uh DD 214 that
shows that you had an honorable discharge. And then it's
(07:53):
pretty simple. You call area code 20207287
6836. That's area code 207
2876836. And you'll be connected with a very helpful person, um,
from the main Veterans dental network and we'll, we'll see, um,
(08:16):
you know, where you're located, as mentioned, excuse me, we have,
what we did is we organized the $300,000 to about
23 nonprofit dental clinics, sometimes known as federally qualified health
centers or FQHC. So we have the Lincoln County Dental.
(08:37):
We have Kennebunk Valley Dentistry. We have Waterville Community Dental.
We have the UN E dental Clinic and that's the
dental school that we actually Northeast Delta Dental actually helps
start with a lead donation way back a couple
decades ago, about $2.3 million to get that dental school started.
And they have a clinic there where they see veterans. Now,
(09:02):
Kadin and several others. There's actually 23 dental clinics who
are located throughout New Hampshire, you know, in Bideford, Portland, Farmington, Le.
And we also have mainly teeth, which is a Portland
and Mobile dental clinic in Penobscot Community Health Center in Bangor.
So I think we've done a nice job of making
(09:23):
sure that there is, you know that there is access.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, and getting the word out. I would imagine, you know,
getting it to the veterans is, is very
sort of important to awareness and it sounds like it's going,
you know, swimmingly. Right. You've been able to get the,
the info out and had a lot of assistance along
the way. I'm sure with, you know, I, I can
only imagine the, the, the power of the ratings from
(09:48):
Delta Dental Radio once those start streaming in too.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Well, well, the show runs every weekend and I'm not
sure what the exact following is, but I will tell
you this after it runs.
Um, or if I appear in other live shows during
the week, that's when I, that's when the calls start
coming in. And in New Hampshire, I know we'll talk
about that at a different time, but the program actually
(10:15):
works directly through me. So actually, I actually speak to, uh,
the veterans directly. This program, you know, works
through, uh, Sarah Sherman and the founder of the, of
the veterans dental care program and the federally qualified health centers. But, yeah,
word gets out there relatively quickly. And when you say swimming,
(10:35):
I think it has been pretty efficient, but I also
want to be candid and realistic that, uh, you know,
that the need is large out there and, you know,
rather than wait for the federal government to change the guidelines,
so more,
uh, veterans can go to the va um, we are
(10:57):
seeing the veterans and are we seeing all of them
that are in need. No, but we're certainly, uh, certainly, uh,
veterans have the opportunity and, and in Maine, all they
have to do is call 2072876836. and they'll be, they'll
be hooked up with someone that can help them.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's fantastic. And just a quick, uh, sort of more
generic question, Tom. What do you, what are you finding at,
at Northeast Delta Dental uh in regards to people in
general beyond the veterans? Are, are you finding that there's
now a bit more awareness of, of just sort of
oral care, dental insurance in general? Are people find sort
of getting over the stigma stigma that that dental insurance
(11:40):
itself is not as expensive as you think it is
and that it's worth it.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
That's a great question. It's taken a long time. But
when the surgeon general came out with his first report
on oral health, which is back around the turn of
the century. For the first time, there was a recognition
of the importance of oral health, excuse me. And then
20 years later, they came, they came out with a
second report and they did definitely show a trend towards
(12:07):
people understanding the importance of oral health. So people now
are getting it
that it's not a luxury, it's part of overall health.
So I would say that, you know, we are definitely
advancing that oral health knowledge more and more dental right
(12:29):
after medical is the most desired benefit in any employer.
I think people not affiliated
with employers. I think we've done a good job of
setting up dental on both the public exchanges as well
as we have a private exchange called Delta Dental covers
me.com where you would just go on that website. Delta
(12:51):
Dental covers me.com. Click on main and then we have
a series of,
of very inexpensive dental programs for you to choose from.
And within a minute you can have a dental program.
So that's outside of this veterans program. But in answer
to your question, I think more and more the general
public is understanding that dental health isn't, isn't a luxury,
(13:16):
but you've got to prioritize it the same way you
go for your annual annual physical. Um, you should, you've
got to try to get to the dentist, you know,
twice a year. Some of us, we actually have a
program which demonstrates some of us need to actually go
three or four times a year. And so I think
to answer your original question. Yeah, more and more people
(13:37):
are understanding that and that's been a lot of work
and give you cite one example. It took probably
20 years of education and lobbying for the Maine and
New Hampshire legislatures in the last couple of years, establishing
an Adult Dental Medicaid program. We Maine and New Hampshire
(13:57):
were two of the last states in the country without
a dental program for people on Medicaid and that finally happened.
So that is testimony that our political leaders are also
understanding it.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Tom Raphael is the president and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental.
You can find them at Ne delta.com. If you're a
veteran in the State of Maine and are interested in
the program we've been discussing. The number is 2072876836 and
they can answer all your questions there, Tom, I appreciate
(14:31):
the time and thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Thank you for getting the help me getting the word
out that this is my passion and, and you're helping,
delivering the message. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
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