Cardin Seeks to Expand Medicare to Include Dental Benefits

[DeeJay]

“We’ve made incredible progress expanding dental coverage to children, now we must do the same for the older Americans across this country.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Finance Health Care Subcommittee, has introduced legislation (S. 22) that creates a dental benefit under Medicare Part B. Currently, Medicare does not pay for routine oral health care like checkups, cleanings and x-rays, restorative procedures, or dentures. Such care could help lower incidents of tooth loss and gum disease in older Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly one in five adults over the age of 65 have lost all of their teeth. About two in three (68 percent) adults aged 65 years or older have gum disease.

“Good oral health is essential to overall health, but quality oral care can be expensive – essentially out of reach – for too many people in Maryland and around the nation,” said Senator Cardin. “We’ve made incredible progress expanding dental coverage to children, now we must do the same for the older Americans across this country.”

An estimated 70 percent of seniors lack or have limited dental insurance, and fewer than half access dental care each year, according to the Wisdom Tooth Project of Oral Health America. The gap in coverage leads to high out-of-pocket costs for those who do access dental care.

The text of the Cardin legislation (S. 22) can be found here. The bill would repeal the statutory exclusion on Medicare coverage of dental care and dentures in Section 1862(a)(12) of the Social Security Act. The legislation expands Part B benefits to cover dental and oral health services, including routine cleanings and exams, fillings and crowns, major services such as root canals and extractions, emergency dental care, and other necessary services.

In September of last year, Senator Cardin led his colleagues in a bipartisan letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging Secretary Azar to use existing authorities to improve Medicare coverage for adult oral health to improve oral health and overall wellness as well as potentially reduce costs to the Medicare program. Cardin was also responsible for guaranteeing pediatric coverage for dental care through both the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Cardin dental health bill has earned endorsements from Families USA, Justice in Aging, Center for Medicare Advocacy, and Oral Health America.

 

[Merlin99]

“We’ve made incredible progress expanding dental coverage to children, now we must do the same for the older Americans across this country.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Finance Health Care Subcommittee, has introduced legislation (S. 22) that creates a dental benefit under Medicare Part B. Currently, Medicare does not pay for routine oral health care like checkups, cleanings and x-rays, restorative procedures, or dentures. Such care could help lower incidents of tooth loss and gum disease in older Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly one in five adults over the age of 65 have lost all of their teeth. About two in three (68 percent) adults aged 65 years or older have gum disease.

“Good oral health is essential to overall health, but quality oral care can be expensive – essentially out of reach – for too many people in Maryland and around the nation,” said Senator Cardin. “We’ve made incredible progress expanding dental coverage to children, now we must do the same for the older Americans across this country.”

An estimated 70 percent of seniors lack or have limited dental insurance, and fewer than half access dental care each year, according to the Wisdom Tooth Project of Oral Health America. The gap in coverage leads to high out-of-pocket costs for those who do access dental care.

The text of the Cardin legislation (S. 22) can be found here. The bill would repeal the statutory exclusion on Medicare coverage of dental care and dentures in Section 1862(a)(12) of the Social Security Act. The legislation expands Part B benefits to cover dental and oral health services, including routine cleanings and exams, fillings and crowns, major services such as root canals and extractions, emergency dental care, and other necessary services.

In September of last year, Senator Cardin led his colleagues in a bipartisan letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging Secretary Azar to use existing authorities to improve Medicare coverage for adult oral health to improve oral health and overall wellness as well as potentially reduce costs to the Medicare program. Cardin was also responsible for guaranteeing pediatric coverage for dental care through both the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Cardin dental health bill has earned endorsements from Families USA, Justice in Aging, Center for Medicare Advocacy, and Oral Health America.

You know this is one point I've never understood, why is dentistry seperate from medicine? Proctology, cardiology, nephrology...all individual body parts are a medical, but teeth are so different that it's a seperate occupation.

 

[SamSpade]

VBA B
You know this is one point I've never understood, why is dentistry seperate from medicine? Proctology, cardiology, nephrology...all individual body parts are a medical, but teeth are so different that it's a seperate occupation.

That it is a separate profession, I get. That it is treated with its own insurance, I never have. Ditto vision.
While people can go their whole lives never needing to see an allergist, a dermatologist, an orthopedist and so forth - I don't know anyone
who can manage life without seeing a dentist. Moreover, you can become terribly ill from pathogens that enter the mouth and from poor
oral hygiene.

 

[stgislander]

I'm kinda surprised dental wasn't already covered by Medicare.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

That it is a separate profession, I get. That it is treated with its own insurance, I never have. Ditto vision.
While people can go their whole lives never needing to see an allergist, a dermatologist, an orthopedist and so forth - I don't know anyone
who can manage life without seeing a dentist. Moreover, you can become terribly ill from pathogens that enter the mouth and from poor
oral hygiene.

I do, she had a fear of the dentist as a child and her mother never made her go. She has impeccable teeth because she brushes and flosses twice a day.

I went seven years without going to the dentist, when I finally made an appt and went again they couldn't believe it had been seven years. Most teeth problems can be avoided by taking good care of them yourself.

 

[vraiblonde]

Most teeth problems can be avoided by taking good care of them yourself.

Yeah, but most people don't. I'm a freak about my teeth because smiles are important in life, so I floss every night before bed and brush twice a day. But my former hygienist, who was also a friend, would tell me stories about some of the people who'd come in. Yeesh.

Anyway, I too don't understand why dental care wasn't already included in Medicare. Hell, I don't understand why retired military doesn't get dental benefits. It's a part of general health care.

 

[Clem72]

Not sure why it isn't included in normal insurance, other than the fact that it can be expensive and nearly everyone needs a little dental work (even if it's just cleanings, but gum recession and other issues eventually crop up for us all). So it's likely not profitable, and you won't die from lack of coverage.

Now for medicare. It could be that they structured their initial coverage after commercial offerings. Or it could be that when instituted people with dental issues already had dentures by the time they were old enough to apply for medicare.

I don't know if it's the flouride in the water, or better tooth paste, but people's teeth just seem to last longer in the last couple of generations. It's not an issue of dental hygene. Hell, they tell you to brush less often now (twice a day) than when I was a kid, and less vigorously. We had antimicrobial mouth wash, we had dental floss (and used it). But most in my generation, and damn near everyone in my parents generation just accept the fact that they will have bad teeth when they get old.