To: President Donald Trump, The Pennsylvania State House, The Pennsylvania State Senate, Governor Tom Wolf, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Ask Medicare to pay towards adult dental care
We have come to an impasse in our country, re: adult dental care. State of the art procedures often demand such things as implants or at least crowns to anchor partial dentures. Many Seniors especially do not possess this amount of money, often running $30-$40,000, or more. Nor do the dental schools now fill in the gap: they have become as competitive as private dentists, and their charges (except for the most basic procedures) are exorbitant, as well. They have solved the problem by often requiring patients to sign up for Credit Services which are really scams-- often later charging huge interest rates encompassing an entire series of procedures over a period of time: not just for one procedure. This later becomes even more of a hardship for poor patients, while it gives dentists and dental specialists carte blanche to do what they want, with charges that the patient will never be able to pay off. In addition, Medicaid pays for virtually nothing, nowadays (it hasn't the funds), but only for the most basic procedures (such as extractions); most dentists will not accept Medicaid anyway, because it takes forever to reimburse, and pays a very low rate. So the solution is NOT to expand Medicaid, but to revamp the entire system-- starting with Medicare involvement. Since when does "health care" not include teeth? Without proper dentition, one cannot eat. If one cannot eat, then one cannot function healthily. In this day and age, adults should not be forced to live with broken or missing teeth, only because they cannot afford adequate dental care.
Why is this important?
I am asking the President, the US Congress, and local congresspersons to accept the fact that the ability to eat and talk is integral to one's healthcare. Teeth are not extraneous appendages, like hair. They are part of the alimentary process; therefore, Medicare ought to be involved in dental care for adults (children may be covered in other ways). Many of us cannot come close to affording the charges that specialty dentists charge, nowadays. I have trouble eating , digesting, and talking. Thanks for your attention to this matter. Update: Now , I have 10 missing teeth, and a recent extraction. I found another dentist, and have good credit. But what about those who have zero funding? The problem still must be addressed.