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douglas9

(4,358 posts)
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:06 PM Sep 2021

Dentists' Group Fights Plan to Cover Dental Benefits Under Medicare

WASHINGTON—The American Dental Association is mobilizing its 162,000 members to fight a proposal to include dental coverage for all Medicare recipients, opposition that could prove pivotal as Democrats look to make cuts in their $3.5 trillion domestic policy agenda.

Giving dental, vision and hearing benefits to the 60 million older and disabled Americans covered by Medicare will provide needed care to people who otherwise might not afford it, supporters say.

The ADA contends that Medicare won’t reimburse enough to cover their costs and is pushing an alternative plan that would limit benefits to the poorest Medicare recipients. It is asking members to contact lawmakers in opposition.

“There aren’t endless amounts of federal dollars, so the question is how do you maximize dollars to do the most good?” said Michael Graham, the ADA’s senior vice president for government and public affairs. “If you don’t focus on low-income seniors, you are just wasting your money.”


https://www.wsj.com/articles/dentists-group-fights-plan-to-cover-dental-benefits-under-medicare-11632735002?mod=djemalertNEWS







21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Dentists' Group Fights Plan to Cover Dental Benefits Under Medicare (Original Post) douglas9 Sep 2021 OP
Oh brother. The only thing that will be covered are cleaning and X-rays jimfields33 Sep 2021 #1
Doctors opposed medicare too. Until they started cashing the checks. Tomconroy Sep 2021 #2
Yeah XanaDUer2 Sep 2021 #3
Opt out then. Nobody forces doctors to accept Medicare patients. ret5hd Sep 2021 #4
Bingo!!! hamsterjill Sep 2021 #14
I have yet to meet a dentist who thought they had enough money! abqtommy Sep 2021 #5
Just give everyone the same healthcare that my husband and I get from the VA. marie999 Sep 2021 #6
There literally are... orwell Sep 2021 #7
People really need this Medicare add-on Sienna86 Sep 2021 #8
No, there are not enless amounts of federal dollars, but.... MissMillie Sep 2021 #9
Maybe they should "fight" to make Medicare pay competitive rates... Wounded Bear Sep 2021 #10
A balance sheet, a cash flow sheet, a list of costs, payments (profit and loss before taxes) Tetrachloride Sep 2021 #11
Greedy bastards. n/t BComplex Sep 2021 #12
Disgusting. Dentists of all people know how badly dental care is needed Hortensis Sep 2021 #13
I had a fractured root in a tooth that had a root canal and a crown. phylny Sep 2021 #17
Oh my, both of you with big expenses at the "same" time, though Hortensis Sep 2021 #18
Greed Over People Xoan Sep 2021 #15
Speaking as a dentist... PCIntern Sep 2021 #16
:) Don't hold back, tell it like it is? Thanks for the input on them. Hortensis Sep 2021 #20
This sort of stuff just beggars belief Mad_Machine76 Sep 2021 #19
Seniors are their most lucrative market Azathoth Sep 2021 #21

jimfields33

(15,693 posts)
1. Oh brother. The only thing that will be covered are cleaning and X-rays
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:08 PM
Sep 2021

Doesn’t it start like 2028? What are they worried about? There precious 3 grand an implant is safe.

XanaDUer2

(10,500 posts)
3. Yeah
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:10 PM
Sep 2021

it was communism. I feel like nothing will ever move forward for average person in this fucking country.

ret5hd

(20,482 posts)
4. Opt out then. Nobody forces doctors to accept Medicare patients.
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:12 PM
Sep 2021

So what they are REALLY worried about is that their existing older patients will say "accept my Medicare or I will go somewhere else."

 

marie999

(3,334 posts)
6. Just give everyone the same healthcare that my husband and I get from the VA.
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:20 PM
Sep 2021

For the last 30 years for my husband and the last 26 years for me, we have not paid for anything medical except for things like aspirin.

orwell

(7,769 posts)
7. There literally are...
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:25 PM
Sep 2021

..."endless amounts of federal dollars."

The clown doesn't even understand basic economics.

Once again, the Federal Government is not your household. They are constitutionally allowed to create money out of thin air at will. Your household, county, or state is not.

I am always stunned at how people do not understand this.

Article 1 Section 8:

"To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures"

Sienna86

(2,148 posts)
8. People really need this Medicare add-on
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:28 PM
Sep 2021

It'll be the only way some can access dental care. Are these dentists being greedy? Most have enough income I guess to live comfortably.

MissMillie

(38,533 posts)
9. No, there are not enless amounts of federal dollars, but....
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:28 PM
Sep 2021

there are lots of people not paying their share.

There definitely could be more dollars available to get people the care they need.

Wounded Bear

(58,601 posts)
10. Maybe they should "fight" to make Medicare pay competitive rates...
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:28 PM
Sep 2021

rather than preventing a massive increase in their patient clientele. Congress can do that, too.

Tetrachloride

(7,816 posts)
11. A balance sheet, a cash flow sheet, a list of costs, payments (profit and loss before taxes)
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:33 PM
Sep 2021

In other words, professional accounting.

There exists data. Somebody has this.

Start with x-ray consulting costs.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
13. Disgusting. Dentists of all people know how badly dental care is needed
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:41 PM
Sep 2021

and the suffering and ill health caused by lack of it. Especially in the elderly.

We have a friend with 3 collapsed crowns that just wore out over decades, as will happen; she can't afford to get them replaced and is resigned to having teeth she'll still need for some years extracted as the cheapest treatment. She's waiting for pain to tell her when it's time to have to do without them.

If we find our dentist opposes adding dental care to Medicare, we will change dentists. Period. A character issue.

phylny

(8,368 posts)
17. I had a fractured root in a tooth that had a root canal and a crown.
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 01:00 PM
Sep 2021

Unbelievably, two months later my husband had the same issue - same tooth, opposite side. He is covered under his former employer’s Medicare advantage plan (which they forced him into, away from regular Medicare) while I am still covered under his former employer’s dental and medical plan. They are limiting how much can be spent on his eventual implant while mine is being covered. Sure, we could’ve stopped at just having a tooth pulled but for our overall dental health, our dentist, a guy I like and trust, felt an implant was best for us. His office has been working with the insurance company. My husband is waiting until next year to get the rest of the work done.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
18. Oh my, both of you with big expenses at the "same" time, though
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 01:26 PM
Sep 2021

guessing now that that must be far from uncommon. Glad you have the coverage you do. Implants are such a wonderful development, where medically doable. Seems like dental plans in future will have to include them.

Our friend said that at least if she happens to win a lottery or sell her home she'll have places ready for them.

PCIntern

(25,481 posts)
16. Speaking as a dentist...
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 12:54 PM
Sep 2021

I haven’t belonged to the ADA since 1981. They are the equivalent of the National Chamber of Commerce. The biggest bunch of political hacks who sold the rank and file out for a weekend in Palm Springs back in 1978. Many of us don’t belong….

Azathoth

(4,607 posts)
21. Seniors are their most lucrative market
Mon Sep 27, 2021, 02:08 PM
Sep 2021

Dentistry is still stuck in the Wild West. The lack of serious dental insurance pretty much everyhere (even most employer plans are a joke) means dentistry is pure business -- target people with money to spend and upsell the big stuff like crazy.

Seniors have reduced living expenses, higher average need of dental care, and are more apt to spend money on medical care than, say, a new car. They're the perfect market.

Once Medicare offers dental, that will make the 65+ market effectively a single-payer market. That's not good business for Wild West salesmen.

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