Courtney Sands found herself grappling with a painful infection requiring root canals and crowns for two molars. However, a visit to an endodontist this spring brought her a different kind of distress. Before beginning the necessary procedure, the office staff demanded thousands of dollars upfront.
Returning a week later for her crowns, Sands, despite having dental insurance through her job and her husband’s, was required to pay out of pocket before receiving treatment. She ended up charging over $6,000 to a high-interest credit card. Ultimately, her insurance reimbursed her only a fraction of the cost—$1,000 from one provider and $395 from another.
Sands is among the fortunate few when it comes to dental care access. Over half of U.S. adults lack consistent access to dental services, and untreated dental issues can significantly impact overall health. Despite these challenges, discussions around expanding dental coverage have largely been absent from political agendas.
High-profile figures like Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have focused on issues like abortion and insulin pricing, yet neither has prioritized extending dental care to the millions lacking insurance.
A recent poll conducted by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health revealed that about 90% of voters support adding dental benefits to Medicare. This sentiment crosses party lines, with near-universal backing from Democrats and 85% support from Republicans.
Despite this clear demand, neither candidate has included dental coverage in their platforms or major speeches. In a recent debate, their topics ranged from grocery prices to the future of the Affordable Care Act, but dental care received no attention.
The necessity for dental coverage is pressing. Nearly 69 million U.S. adults did not have dental insurance or access to routine oral health care last year, according to CareQuest. Additionally, many lost coverage when states began to unwind Medicaid programs that had expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medicare, primarily serving adults aged 65 and older, does not include routine dental coverage. A 2018 analysis by KFF found that nearly half of Medicare enrollees had not seen a dentist in over a year.
“Far too many people in this country are finding oral health care to be prohibitively expensive,” said Melissa Burroughs, director of public policy at CareQuest. “Yet this issue has been relegated to the back burner in policy discussions, lacking the political commitment necessary to address it.”
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