Bloomberg Law: Broader Medicare Dental Coverage Gets Push from Biden Team (August 17, 2022)

The Biden administration, spurred by House and Senate Democrats, is moving to expand the “medically necessary” circumstances under which Medicare will cover dental services.

While federal law excludes Medicare coverage of routine dental services, the proposal, if finalized, would allow reimbursement for oral and dental care needed to treat more types of Medicare-covered ailments, injuries, and chronic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease.

Georgia Burke, director of Medicare advocacy at Justice in Aging, said the drug negotiation provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are a “hopeful sign that Congress is really willing to tackle some of the big gaps that still exist in the Medicare program.”