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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The Affordable Care Act should be expanded to include adult dental care"
The Affordable Care Act should be expanded to include adult dental care, writes guest columnist Ron Inge.
By Ron Inge
BIG changes are coming to Washington health care in 2014. While much of the focus is currently on medical care, there are some important changes and strides happening on the dental front.
In the first phase of the Affordable Care Act in Washington, the states new health-insurance exchange will begin enrolling people Oct. 1, with coverage starting Jan. 1...this will greatly increase access to oral care for previously uninsured children across the state. Unfortunately, adult dental care is not included in the Affordable Care Act.
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Luckily, through the recent reinstatement of dental coverage to eligible Medicaid adults and the hard work of the Washington Dental Service Foundation, 250,000 Washingtonians will again have dental coverage beginning in 2014. As a former practicing dentist Im excited by this change, but Im concerned that many adults still wont receive the dental care they need.
So, what is the solution?
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., has introduced a bill to add adult dental care to the Affordable Care Act in 2015. I hope that the Washington state Congressional delegation will support the bill.
- more -
http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coverage/MedicareDentalCoverage/index.html?redirect=/MedicareDentalCoverage
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings on Wednesday introduced legislation to address the dental crisis in America. The bills would expand dental coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The legislation was filed one week after a new government study documented skyrocketing costs and limited access to dental care.
The Government Accountability Office found that Americans spent about $108 billion on dentists in 2011 at charges that varied greatly for the same service. The GAO report was prepared for the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, which Sanders chairs. The panel last week held a hearing that also examined inadequate insurance coverage and government policies that discourage preventative care.
When people cannot get to a dentist when they need one, they often end up in emergency rooms. It just doesnt make sense for us to spend so much money on those who wind up in hospitals but refuse to help people get the care they need before its too late, Sanders said.
Cummings, the House sponsor, said the legislation puts us on the path to universal access by increasing the availability of care and expanding coverage to veterans, seniors, and low-income Americans. This is a critical step to addressing the vast differences in health care outcomes we see in our society.
The Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2013 is supported by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, the American Dental Hygienists Association, the Childrens Dental Health Project, the Pew Childrens Dental Campaign and others.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/open-wide-09-18-2013
Medicare does not provide dental coverage.
The dental exclusion was included as part of the initial Medicare program. In establishing the dental exclusion, Congress did not limit the exclusion to routine dental services, as it did for routine physical checkups or routine foot care, but instead it included a blanket exclusion of dental services.
The Congress has not amended the dental exclusion since 1980 when it made an exception for inpatient hospital services when the dental procedure itself made hospitalization necessary.
http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coverage/MedicareDentalCoverage/index.html?redirect=/MedicareDentalCoverage
It's Obamacare.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023715400
Drale
(7,932 posts)Vision and Dental are imperative for full health and social safety.
avaistheone1
(14,626 posts)A pair of glasses if you have astigmatism and need bifocals could cost easily over $350 and that is not for any kind of fancy frames.
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)I believe that covers the entire spectrum; physical, mental, hearing, speech, and vision related maladies.
NoOneMan
(4,795 posts)As an aside, Canadian health care does not include vision/dental/drug. Though, a supplemental private plan is around $100-$200 a month. Having universal health care makes that all affordable and most employers provide it.
The real concern that so many are missing is the usage fees (co-pays & deductibles). All those other goodies pale in comparison in terms of both importance and cost. What percent of a quadruple bypass can you afford?
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)I pay 50 dollars a month (600 a year) and the most they will pay is 1000 dollars.
No Vested Interest
(5,167 posts)I was on my husband's dental policy for years; only paid ca $30/mo.
About a year after his death it went to ca $36/mo for me.
I just got a notice it will be $44/mo for me after Jan. 1, but I've racked up a bigger charge than usual this year. - Had a $750 root canal, which will be followed by a new crown not sure of the charge, but at least equal to the root canal.
The company is Cigna. They also paid on twice yearly cleanings and occasional dental xray.
I wouldn't be without it.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)United Health Care.
No Vested Interest
(5,167 posts)negotiate for prices for your company are getting the best deal possible.
My husband's company is a huge company, who always did well for their employees, and maybe they are contributing to the expense, which may benefit me, even though I've sort of been cut loose.
I'm assuming the rate you quote is for a single person.
If you have to pay as you noted, make sure you take advantage of routine services - cleaning, xrays every year or two.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)People who are homeless cannot maintain good health.
It is essential that those who want good health have homes.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)OBAMA: Let's break down what she really means by a mandate. What's meant by a mandate is that the government is forcing people to buy health insurance and so she's suggesting a parent is not going to buy health insurance for themselves if they can afford it. Now, my belief is that most parents will choose to get health care for themselves and we make it affordable.
Here's the concern. If you haven't made it affordable, how are you going to enforce a mandate. I mean, if a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house. The reason they don't buy a house is they don't have the money. And so, our focus has been on reducing costs, making it available. I am confident if people have a chance to buy high-quality health care that is affordable, they will do so. That's what our plan does and nobody disputes that.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0802/05/ltm.02.html
President Obama never stated that the mandate was unconstitutional or that he was completely opposed to any mandate. His argument was always affordability before a mandate. In fact, the statement about homelessness was specifically to reiterate the affordability point.
SEN. OBAMA...According to Senator Clinton...there are more people covered under her plan than mine is because of a mandate. That is not a mandate for the government to provide coverage to everybody; it is a mandate that every individual purchase health care...If it was not affordable, she would still presumably force them to have it, unless there is a hardship exemption as they've done in Massachusetts, which leaves 20 percent of the uninsured out. And if that's the case, then, in fact, her claim that she covers everybody is not accurate....
MR. WILLIAMS: And Senator Clinton, on this subject --
SEN. CLINTON...Senator Obama has a mandate in his plan. It's a mandate on parents to provide health insurance for their children. That's about 150 million people who would be required to do that. The difference between Senator Obama and myself is that I know, from the work I've done on health care for many years, that if everyone's not in the system we will continue to let the insurance companies do what's called cherry picking -- pick those who get insurance and leave others out.
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SEN. OBAMA...I do provide a mandate for children, because, number one, we have created a number of programs in which we can have greater assurance that those children will be covered at an affordable price. On the -- on the point of many adults, we don't want to put in a situation in which, on the front end, we are mandating them, we are forcing them to purchase insurance, and if the subsidies are inadequate, the burden is on them, and they will be penalized. And that is what Senator Clinton's plan does.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/politics/26text-debate.html?pagewanted=print
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... a government "for the People" do?
onehandle
(51,122 posts)...and on to universal healthcare.
JBoy
(8,021 posts)Here in BC, our Medical Services Plan covers only "medically necessary" dental and optical.
That means dental surgery when needed to be performed in a hospital (i.e., you were in an accident and a bunch of teeth got smashed). Routine checkups, cleanings, even fillings at your dentist are not part of the coverage.
And for optical, again it's when medically necessary. Eye disease, trauma, etc. My vision sucks and I just need glasses? I'm on my own.
Most full-time working Canadians have extended benefits through their employer to provide additional dental, optical, etc., but typically there are limits and copays. The part-timer at McDonalds gets squat. It's no panacea here.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)I've been nearsighted my whole life and now I'm in bifocals.
I got glasses in the second grade and needed them before that. The woman who came in to school with her light box with Es on it--I kept saying "I can't see that" from ten feet away and she never heard me. She never said anything to the teacher either.
My mom wondered why I had my nose in a book and found out when she took me to the eye doctor and she felt stupid.
Mom and Dad had perfect vision and only wore reading glasses so it did not occur to them that I might need glasses. Now they have vision, speech and hearing screening in Texas in the first grade to catch these things.
My focusing distance in my GOOD EYE is about six inches.
In my bad eye it's about four inches.
I'm what they call a high minus. Minus diopters mean you're nearsighted. A diopter is a meter.
I'm a minus 9.25 in my bad eye. A minus diopter is a reciprocal fraction.
Divide 39.37 inches by 9.5 and you'll get my focusing distance.
Wearing contacts knocks about 2 diopters off my scrip because it sits on my eyeball.
I can be corrected to 20/15 in contacts, which cannot be done in glasses. As far as bifocals w/contacts, one eye is for distance and one eye is for near vision and my brain fuses them.
It's called "monovision".
As far as teeth, you can die from an abscessed tooth if the infection gets in your blood. You can then die from septicemia, a/k/a blood poisoning. Some teenager in Chicago a few years ago did not have $80 to get a tooth pulled, but Cook County had $250,000 to spend on him in intensive care when he went into a coma and died from blood poisoning.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Glasses are an absolute necessity for many people. Without them, near-sighted people have a lot of accidents. I did as a child before people realized that I could not see much of anything more than about 7 inches from my eyes.
Lack of good dental care can lead to serious diseases in other parts of the body. Heart disease can result from gum infections or problems with the teeth.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Would be great if the U.S. led the world with the best and most inclusive health care system.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)And he gets a lot of credit for that.
Historic NY
(37,457 posts)for more major health related issues.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dental/DE00001
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)but lets get through this defunding crap first!
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)With 3D printers making the replacement teeth, the process should be fast and inexpensive.
Mr Dixon
(1,185 posts)One can only hope
gopiscrap
(23,766 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)gopiscrap
(23,766 posts)ErikJ
(6,335 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)allinthegame
(132 posts)We haven't even made the Affordable Care Act a working entity and now we are going to load things on to it?
Why don't we get out there and make sure the first part works like a charm instead of constantly looking at Charlie Brown's football.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"We haven't even made the Affordable Care Act a working entity and now we are going to load things on to it?
Why don't we get out there and make sure the first part works like a charm instead of constantly looking at Charlie Brown's football."
Adding benefits to make the program work better is a good thing.
The scare tactics from the right are completely unfounded, and if anyone needs a test case: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023715400#post6
The health care law improves on already existing programs.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Without dental it is a portion of health being addressed. Thank God Bernie and Elijah are daring to speak this truth.