Posted on 08/30/2021 1:37:47 PM PDT by algore
Nearly half of Americans 65 and over didn’t visit a dentist in the last year, and nearly one in five have lost all their natural teeth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There’s growing evidence that dental problems can worsen other health conditions that Medicare does cover.
Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, has played a crucial role in advancing the measure. He recalled living as a young man in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, five miles from the clinic where Ms. Hayes received her care, and learning that many residents lacked access to dentists. “A child who lived nearby, his teeth were literally rotting in his mouth,” he said.
Since then, the situation in Vermont has improved. Community health centers serve about a quarter of the state’s population. The state’s Medicaid program pays for preventive care and for up to $1,000 a year in other treatment for children and poor adults. But it does not pay for dentures, which can run into the thousands of dollars. Nationwide, around half of Americans 65 and older lack any source of dental insurance.
With so many uninsured older patients, dentists like Dr. Adrienne Rulon, who treated Ms. Hayes, practice triage. Certain teeth — like the eye teeth and first molars — are more important to save. Filling a cavity in one tooth is less expensive than a root canal in another. Sometimes, patients will come in for an exam, learn about more expensive problems, then disappear for months while they save money for the procedure. “People are having to pick and choose,” she said. “It’s a huge untreated population
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Medicare costs me about $150 a Month (which comes out of my SS Check), plus $135 for my Medicare Supplement coverage which has a $205 Medicare Deductible, plus $25 for my Plan D Drug coverage which has a $420 Deductible and Co Pays and don’t forget the Doctor Visit Co Pays.
Same estimated costs for my Wife.
That “free” Medicare costs us around $800 a Month when it’s all said and done.
Medicare runs a HUGE deficit and the fund will be essentially broke in 2026. Which means that beneficiaries are getting more out (aka free stuff) than is going in. Adding dental just makes it worse.
And the baby boomer wave like myself is just getting to their mid/late 70s where medical costs typically ramp up before death.
I wonder, does the Gubmint consider Illegal Invaders and Afghan Refugees Baby Boomers nowadays?
Just askin’.
They’re all on Medicaid which is a whole ‘nother problem.
Louise Slaughter - “...you will not believe this and I know you won’t, but it’s true. Her sister died. This poor woman had no dentures. She wore her dead sister’s teeth.”
read later
Here’s the reality.
If you’re a decent dentist, you don’t want to take Medicaid patients.
The money you get from the govt is lousy.
How about the Veteran’s Administration ? Few know that that’s not covered by the VA
As someone who will be moving over to medicare next year I would certainly like for them to cover hearing aids. They are crazy expensive and right now there are only clinical trials going on that may restore our hearing down the road. I will have supplemental insurance but that still won’t cover the hearing aids. I have discovered that they are over priced and the providers are making ridiculous profits.
For what each of us has paid into the system it seems that things like dental, glasses, and hearing aids would be no brainers.
I am new here but wanted to participate on this subject because it effects me.
The prices are already though the roof
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.