Washington, D.C., Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Calling it an imperative to “improve equity, access, and health outcomes,” today CareQuest Institute for Oral Health and a coalition of health industry executives, clinical professionals, public health experts, and advocates sent a letter to Congress urging expansion of Medicare to include dental benefits.
The letter, sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Finance Committee Chair Roy Wyden, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone, Jr., and Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal, called on Congress to pay for this critical expansion with savings realized through negotiating prescription drug prices.
The letter follows the release of a recent Morning Consult poll, showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans across the political spectrum and across the country favor adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare. The poll revealed that 84% of all voters – 89% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans – favored inclusion of these benefits in Medicare.
“Medicare’s lack of an oral health benefit means that two-thirds of all enrollees – more than 37 million Americans – do not have dental coverage,” the group states in their letter. “These are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and other people of color, those…
