States can use Medicaid waivers to expand oral health coverage and address disparities in access to dental care for older adults and people with disabilities.
Oral health affects overall health – and this is particularly true for older adults. This webinar shares advocacy tips on how to connect your clients to oral health treatment.
Half of Medicare enrollees—31 million aging adults and people with disabilities—have very limited income and savings and cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket for vital dental services. Medicare does not currently provide coverage for dental benefits. As a consequence, nearly half of Medicare enrollees have no dental coverage at all, while those with coverage face unaffordable […]
Only half of all Medicare enrollees have seen a dentist in the last year because Medicare excludes coverage of routine preventative and restorative oral health care except in limited circumstances. This puts older adults at risk of serious and worsening chronic health conditions. Adding oral health coverage through Medicare Part B would be the most […]
By Amber Christ, Directing Attorney, Health Team The Medicare statute explicitly excludes nearly all dental coverage for the 60 million older adults and people with disabilities under 65 who rely on the program. Without coverage, large percentages of people with disabilities are not able to access dental care. For example, 62% of individuals with disabilities […]
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3). This legislation takes on meaningful drug pricing reform to make momentous improvements to the Medicare program, protect low-income seniors and people with disabilities, and help older adults and families across America afford their medications. By empowering the Secretary […]
As Justice in Aging has been engaged in advocacy to add an oral health benefit to Medicare Part B, we’ve received a number of questions from advocates and others about how older adults currently access oral health benefits, what coverage the various parts of Medicare offer, and what adding an oral health benefit to Medicare […]