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Staying healthy and having a good diet is one area to focus on, but another is oral health. Not taking good care of your teeth can result in infection, gum disease, and other issues which can have a negative impact on your health. According to the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, untreated oral diseases caused people ages 50-74 worldwide to suffer a collective 8 million years of life “with disability” in 2019.
As part of a large budget bill making its way through Congress, there is a provision to provide dental and eye care for Medicare recipients for the first time in our nation’s history. Ironically, the bill is facing opposition from dentists, who fear that government reimbursement rates would be too low. Back in 1965, the American Dental Association fought to keep dental from being a paid service for Medicare recipients. Sadly, nearly half of all Americans over the age of 65 did not visit a dentist last year, and almost 20% have lost all of their teeth. I know about the problem firsthand. In addition to owning Family inHome Caregiving, I am president of the non-profit Hands to Help Seniors which provides emergency assistance to seniors in a financial pickle. The vast majority of our donations go to providing dental care to low-income senior citizens, which is very expensive.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/29/upshot/medicare-dental-care.html
One of the great mysteries of the Medicare program is why they do not cover any dental work. Many seniors forgo having dental work done because they can’t afford it, which can have a serious domino effect on their health. The New York Times ran a story last month (June 13, page 8) about Ellen Phillips, who let a lot of teeth problems slide and eventually had to have all of her teeth extracted at a cost of $32,000. The work was necessary because she needed heart surgery, and having dental infection or gum disease can allow bacteria to get into the bloodstream, causing serious surgical complications. Some supplemental Medicare Advantage plans do offer a limited amount of dental coverage, but none would have covered the massive work that Ms. Phillips went through. President Biden has proposed adding dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare. I hope he is successful. If you are in the Aptos or Santa Cruz Area, I recommend Dr. Delcore, in Santa Cruz try Stone Creek Dental.
Dr. Hugo Ferlito saw over a year of work come to fruition as he opened his free dental clinic with services for veterans. He will work with Dr. George Yellich, an oral surgeon affiliated with Montage Health, and several other volunteer dentists. It’s not clear why the government doesn’t offer dental benefits to Veterans and Seniors have no coverage either under Medicare. “Veterans Affairs has done a really good job with medical care but it’s crazy they don’t cover dentistry,” Dr. Ferlito told The Herald. Letting oral health problems go unchecked can have severe negative consequences on your health. The office is at the Montage Wellness Center on 2nd Avenue in Marina. Funding has been provided by Monterey County Gives, Montage Health and local Rotary clubs. Montage is allowing the dental office to use the office space free of charge, and also paid for construction improvements and is paying for utilities
Dr. Hugo Ferlito saw over a year of work come to fruition as he opened his free dental clinic with services for veterans, timed to be open for Veterans Day 2020. He will work with Dr. George Yellich, an oral surgeon affiliated with Montage Health, and several other volunteer dentists. It’s not clear why the government doesn’t offer dental benefits to Veterans and Seniors have no coverage either under Medicare. “Veterans Affairs has done a really good job with medical care but it’s crazy they don’t cover dentistry,” Dr. Ferlito told The Herald. Letting oral health problems go unchecked can have severe negative consequences on your health. The office is at the Montage Wellness Center on 2nd Avenue in Marina. Funding has been provided by Monterey County Gives, Montage Health and local Rotary clubs. Montage is allowing the dental office to use the office space free of charge, and also paid for construction improvements and is paying for utilities.