Zorn is an unashamed Lefty / Liberal, and he plays the “Crises” and “Children” cards boldly here, with no shame, to start the drumbeat.
He has a point, in a way, though. Both Liberals and Conservatives want to detach health insurance from employment, liberals for National Health Insurance, and Conservatives for First Person, Market Insurance.
I’ve said to myself during the last eight years, “What about Dental?”
This is an opportunity for the Conservatives / Republicans, if they succeed at threading the needle and get a Market Health Insurance Bill to President Trump to sign into law. They can then be consistent and pass an American Dental Insurance Act, making Dental Insurance First Person and Market.
We shall see.
I go every 3 months instead of every 6 months (4 times a year). I have to pay out of pocket the extra 2 times that insurance does not cover. It is worth the money! I recommend it to everyone.
“We have babies come to us who already have a mouthful of decay,” said Marcio da Fonseca...
Send them to the UK...They really take care of babies....
Oh...Wait....
Guess how we get our dental care.
We pay for it, and it’s expensive these days.
5.56mm
They can bite me.
HaHa...I crack myself up.
Maybe Medicaid pediatricians should prescribe fluoride pills. I was terrible brushing my teeth when I was a child but I took vitamins with fluoride and had no cavities until four years after I started brushing my teeth and stopped taking the pills.
No... its because parents are too busy spending money on smart phones and 40 ouncers instead of toothbrushes and toothpaste.
It’s the result of a combination of poor diet, poor oral hygiene, poor parental education and a lack of access to routine care.”
So basically it’s 80-90% the parent’s fault? And lets all be honest - it is in large part the black families reliance on sugar drinks and snacks as a food group that is driving this.
A good start towards a solution, Ready?
Do what your Mother told you to do:
Brush your teeth after you eat and before you go to bed.
Floss daily.
Avoid high sugar foods.
Drink plenty of water.
Once we have that part down, then we can get to the professional care stuff.
Is it the government’s role to take care of our teeth (and the rest of our health)?
Let’s get back to discussions of the government’s proper function. _IF_ our teeth are the government’s responsibility then I DEMAND we outlaw soda (if it causes problems).
As a rule, I hate “soda laws”. I think people should be allowed to eat/drink what they want. But if my tax dollars are going to take care of people’s teeth (and, while we have $20 trillion debt) it’s ridiculous to let people do harm to their teeth and then have the government pay for it (with my taxes). Maybe soda’s not the problem I think it is and we need a bigger discussion. Maybe government monitoring of our daily brushing/flossing is what we need. If the government is responsible for our oral health, it seems perfectly reasonable that they would be allowed to monitor our management of this asset that they are responsible for protecting.
Then again, there is the other theory of government: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”.
If someone needs oral care (or health insurance) the government should give it to them, no questions asked.
I wonder if adding the fluoride poison to our public waters has had ANY impact on cavities.....
Rent seeking
This is just a warning. After they get “free” health insurance, paid for by the suckers who continue to work, they will demand dental insurance. After that, it will be hearing aids and eyeglasses. Don’t think it will stop there. They never stop.
Brush/floss, no fruit juice in bottles, no soda. It really is that simple.
The article reads like Chicago is a third world country...
Waiting for days for care in long lines...
Oh’ wait...
This issue was visible years ago in my area; I had three dentists in one year because two different ones retired (though they seemed young for that) and I eventually settled with a third. For years before that, visits to the dentist became less unpleasant because there was a lot less waiting; fewer and fewer people (insured or not) could afford treatment. That probably drove some dentists to simply close up shop and/or move to greener pastures where people still have discretionary dollars. Otherwise, it joins vacations and dining out as one of the first things people drop when they have to focus on paying rents/mortgages and buying food and gasoline.
I always thought dental insurance should be part of health insurance (regardless of how you obtain coverage).
American middle class children and adults suffer from overly long hair, poorly trimmed beards, and unkempt mustaches.
——————The American Barber Asssociation
Without going into details, I grew up in a bit of an abusive household, and had horrible issues with my teeth as a child. My parents had good insurance, and a reasonable-enough education to know better, but lots of parents (too many) don't pay attention to what their children really need. When a child has extensive dental issues at 5-9 years of age this is not the child's fault. Yes, there are some children who might have defective enamel etc., but that is a minor percentage. This is much less a financial issue than an issue of having involved parents who make things like teaching their children good dental habits and encouraging good dietary habits - (e.g. not giving them chocolate milk etc. at bedtime) a priority.
“We have babies come to us who already have a mouthful of decay,”
, , , , ,
“Momma, da baby be crying. He hungry.”
“I know Shauntavius. But, I’z watching my favorite program. I feeds him later. Gib him another candy bar.”