White Paper Stresses Importance of Oral Health Care Benefit for Older Adults
Justice in Aging, along with a diverse group of partners, released a white paper, An Oral Health Benefit in Medicare Part B: It's Time to
With an expected 72.1 million seniors living in
"Oral health is an essential part of overall health for people of all ages, especially seniors. Adding a dental benefit to Medicare is necessary to achieve health equity for the millions of older adults who rely on Medicare," said
Medicare plays a key role in providing health and financial security for 59 million older people and younger people with disabilities. However, traditional Medicare does not include coverage for routine oral health care like checkups, cleanings and x-rays, or restorative procedures like fillings or crowns, tooth extractions and dentures.
"Including an oral health benefit in Medicare Part B would provide the greatest number of beneficiaries with access to dental care that is desperately needed. It's also the simplest solution from an administrative standpoint," said
An Oral Health Benefit in Medicare Part B: It's Time to
Top findings include:
* 70 percent of all Medicare recipients lack or have limited dental insurance and fewer than half access dental care each year.
* Cost is the number one reason that older adults have not gone to the dentist in the past year.
* Oral pain and tooth loss in older adults can lead to poor nutrition and exacerbate chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.
* Integrating dental coverage in Medicare would close disparities in dental use and expense between the uninsured and insured and among older adults with few financial resources and limited oral health education.
* Surveys show that consumers widely support adding oral health coverage to Medicare and prioritize two categories of care: checkups and pain treatment.
* 71.2 percent of dentists agree that Medicare should include comprehensive dental benefits and a majority indicated they were willing to comply with typical Medicare practice requirements.
* As part of an ongoing investigation of alternatives to serve the dental care needs of a growing elder population, the
An Oral Health Benefit in Medicare Part B: It's Time to
Advantages to the inclusion of Part B include:
* Ensures that everyone enrolled in Medicare will receive the oral health benefit.
* Provides the greatest number of beneficiaries access to a basic level of oral health care, encouraging equitable access and provider participation.
* Uses established processes and protections for both Medicare beneficiaries and providers, alleviating the need for a new system and bureaucracies.
To move an oral health benefit in Medicare Part B forward,
The recommendations included in An Oral Health Benefit in Medicare Part B: It's Time to
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