And hearing aids eludes and angers me

Eye and Dental separate. I don’t get it either, but I think that’s what happened

They only wanted a percentage base payment system.
Instead of insurance paying $450 for a crown, they wanted it to be insurance pays for 80% of what ever the dentist wanted to charge. As some dentists might charge $250 and some might want to charge $1000 for the same crown.

They did not want some company telling them what to charge.

I can see that as most dentists are small 1 dentist offices, not like the multiple MD's in other offices. But I do not think it is working for them now. The union patients they have have been seeing for a long time and paying most of the dentists bills do not have to pay that many visits since they have good teeth.

I pay $60 a month for dental insurance and have not been able to come up with my share of the dental fees for some lower work.

a privately held dental 'insurance' company that works backwards from how it should. My Delta plan rations dental care for me to a $1500 yearly max.

That's ONE TOOTH, folks. ONE TOOTH.

We have shitty, rationed dental care with financially crippling copays.

Because God help you if you need a crown, or an implant. Or periodontal surgery. Because after the $1500 the rest is ON YOU.

Yet those who rule us have lifetime healthcare and dental care and vision care. They never, ever, ever have to worry about incurring debt because they cannot PAY for the care they need.

That is unconscionable.

Our whole healthcare system is IMMORAL, as is so much else we must endure in our sojourns upon this earth.

I wish Congressional benefits were the same as Medicare. Add a provision in law that says current and retired legilsators can't supplement their health insurance with concierge coverage, and watch how fast Medicare would be amended to include dental and other currently uncovered care.

Let them know what the rest of the country has to deal with.

But of course they'd have to vote for that themselves, which makes it DOA.

Just not routine eye care. For example cataracts and glaucoma are covered under the regular insurance, routine eye exams and astigmatism, near sightedness, etc aren’t.

My dental hygienist and I have long conversations about dental and gum health being connected to the cardiovascular system. It's holistic. Gum disease can lead to and exacerbate heart disease.

Medicare should absolutely have a standard offering for dental care. (And vision).

It’s time.

full set of X-rays each year at no charge. Also 1 filling and 1 extraction. It helps. It is no panacea.

substandard dental health, and they have surpassed the US is Dental health by covering all their citizens through national healthcare that includes dental coverage. When no one was paying attention we slopped into Third World status.

is that there are not enough dentists and waiting lists. When we lived there in the 2000's- it was impossible to get an appt. And I don't think we knew anyone that was British that got regular dental checkups- not even for their kids.

I signed up for a discount program through my dentist and it covers almost as much as "insurance" covered. I do need to pay for cleanings and x-rays. The big stuff (crowns, implants etc) is very expensive even if you have insurance.

I get free cleanings every 6 months. But the cost for crowns and implants are high.

I saved up for 2 years to be able to afford crowns on my bottom teeth. The teeth had cracked and broken, the nerve was exposed. It was tough to eat or drink with the way they were.

But now it's amazing. I have the temporary ones in and I can drink coffee, ice tea and ice cream without wincing in pain.

But damn, that was 2 years of hell trying to save to pay for them. But that's how capitalism works, free markets for everyone but the filthy-rich.

Insurance co has a new stadium (Delta)

The total cost for the crown is over $1k.

Ridiculous. My mom always said “dental insurance isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on”.

it won't matter. We need a national healthcare plan like most civilized countries.

No one told us not to take a MA Plan. I'm tired of being the bad person because I took a MA plan like my work insurance.

around here, just ignore it. The anti Advantage people try to shame people with an Advantage plan, plus spreading misinformation, so pretty much few people admit to it.

MA ROBS the government

https://www.levernews.com/the-20-billion-scam-at-the-heart-of-medicare-advantage/

The coverage is top notch and she has wonderful doctors. I hope she never loses her plan, she is very fortunate.

I too just ignore the antis.

My dentist kept ruling out any dental issues. He got it wrong. I did have an abscessed tooth. No outward sign of it. It went to my brain. The health issues were unreal. It caused major damage to my teeth. Medical is dental. I can't believe we separate the two. I've spent over $30,000 on my teeth. I spent my inheritance. My insurance covered very little.

Sue the first doc

My wife has an Advantage plan and it covers hearing aids. She is enrolled in a 5 star plan though. Maybe it depends on which plan you have- but historically the Advantage plans have to cover at least what Medicare covers.

Won’t cover them.

Because now the majority of the plans cover at least some of the cost. But if things change and Medicare covers hearing aids, the Advantage plans will also.

Seriously, what asshole decided that teeth and eyes weren’t part of your health? Knowing how insurance companies operate, I have to suspect that they are responsible, at least in some capacity: By having health, dental and vision insurance separated, that’s three different fucking policies the bastards get to sell…and they can charge more than they could if health insurance was comprehensive.

Greed. Greed. Greed.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: For-profit healthcare is an abomination. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Chlamydia pneumoniae is present in the dental plaque of periodontitis patients and stimulates an inflammatory response in gingival epithelial cells

I had one of my original cardiologist back in the early 2000's warn me about Chlamydia pneumoniae. He said the test for it was more expensive that the cure for it.. About 5 days of cheap antibiotics.

I have mentioned it to doctors and my dentists and they have never heard of it. They can't believe that teeth can affect the heart or lungs. He did though.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6444558/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/chlamydia-pneumoniae-5222454

with a family history.

Medicare should have dental, sight, hearing, prescription drug coverage and a over the counter card like Medicare Advantage Plans. Together my husband and I get $250 per quarter to buy health supplements and other supplies. The cost is what comes out of Social Security. Our monthly cost for the MA plan is $0. I"ve been told more than once that I should not have taken a MA plan. It hurts regular Medicare. No one told us this. When I retired I took a MA plan similar to my work insurance. Almost half of seniors have MA plans. It needs to be fixed and folks with MA plans need to stop being attacked.

for like 5 years. Biden did change admin rules to cover dental procedures when it's necessary for heart valve replacements, certain cancer treatments, etc. That is big. I remember a friend's father had to pay for having his teeth pulled for radiation treatment. I think that is now covered, but nothing for routine treatment.

Point is, don't think we'll see much dental coverage in traditional Medicare for the next decade or so.

and corporations, and spend billions on tools of war.

Why is there never enough for childcare? For K-12? For college and university?

Why is there never enough for healthcare for all our people? Why is there never enough money to quite make ends meet? Why do so many on this earth not have enough to meet even their most basic needs?

Why do billions have to live in grinding poverty?

Why do we allow eleven people a minute to starve to death?

Why do we allow wars? Environmental degradation?

You know, we live on an earth where the system has been designed to allow a few greedy people, freakish people whose whole life force is dedicated to amassing more wealth, then more and more and more and more, at the expense of everyone else.

We have more billionaires than ever before. Why? Who needs a billion dollars? Does a billionaire actually need more pairs of shoes or pants or shirts than the rest of us? A bigger house? A gold toilet?

This world seems not to understand its true nature, what it COULD be without greed, envy, pride, lust, gluttony, wrath. Instead we have 'Justice' Alito hanging a 'stop the steal' flag outside of his undoubtedly very nice house because his wife supposedly objected to an offensive (real liberal) yard sign put out by a neighbor. These are people who are supposed to be GROWN UP enough to stand above the banality of petty evil.

As long as the powers on the earth worship the bronze bull of Wall Street - the golden calf of illusory wealth.

Because you know what? No amount of wealth will keep you alive when your time comes to go. Each one of us who is alive now upon this earth owes a death of our physical body. No matter how much power or money one has, how many guns one has, how nice a house one lives in or car one drives will save anyone from that.

I shake my head at many of the things that go on because they are infantile. The whole MAGA movement is infantile, fueled with grievances and hatreds carefully engineered by the oligarchs to keep them PROFITS comin.' Wall Street is not Main Street, and what is good for Kraft Foods is not necessarily good for all of us. But the tacit agreement between the GOP, the conservatives on the Supreme Court and in appelate courts, in state legislatures and so on is to keep driving wedges and fomenting hatred so that these few worthless billionaires can get more money. Because, hey, for them to WIN, all of us have to lose.

When will our species awaken to our true nature. You know, my favorite Christmas story is Dickens' Christmas Carol. Peace and goodwill toward others. But each year it gets worse - more hate, more white nationalism, more war, more shootings, while all the while the wealthy extract more money for themselves that could help everyone in the world have enough, have potable water, have housing, have decent jobs and schools, live in an environment of personal safety. Why do we not GROW UP? Why do we continue to allow this?

Sorry, but this morning, my wife told me about Alito's 'stop the steal' flag that he (blames his wife!) proudly put in his yard, and I was stunned that a Supreme Court Justice could stoop to such infantile behavior. Hey, Sam, we aren't six year olds on a playground. You do know that, right?

Sigh. Excuse me - I must now make the monthly payment on MY HEALTHCARE DEBT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Funny - I SHOULD be doing better than I ever have financially in terms of having enough to make ends meet and have a comfortable retirement, but NOPE. Due to dental costs I have HEALTH CARE DEBT.

Our healthcare system is broken, crippled by greed. A few billionaires have everything and the rest of us suffer.

That sucks.

We can't get them to pay for ambulance bills. How are they going to take on Dental?

Part B covers ambulance bills.

...and vision and hearing...

...and watch for this when the pukes regain power...

...as far as I know there is no fee or waiting period (during/after enrollment period) to go from private/Medicare Advantage plans back to Original Medicare ...

...I'm thinking the pukes will probably create a long waiting period (no insurance) and a penalty in order for you to be able to return to Original Medicare to keep you in their private insurance market...

...I could be wrong, but ...

Do people think the elderly don't need teeth or good oral health and don't need to see?

Try $5526, for Oral Surgery, Root Canal and checkups
when your only income is Social Security!!
As bad as having to pay $250 a month for medical that Medicare doesn't pay for.
Of course, you can always take out a loan you can never pay off.
Robbin' the elderly!

I told them that I would rather not and then when I called them to try to schedule for items that my insurance would cover and they kept telling me oh we've got to check with your insurance. Turns out what it is that they try to pressure you to take that loan because they get a big payment right then and there and then you're stuck with paying that loan off and I frankly could not afford that on my limited income.
Needless to say I found another dentist and I will never recommend Aspen dental for anybody in fact I will warn them to avoid them.

Now it’s becoming Americans.

And don't get me started on needing a supplement for covering the 20% part B won't pay for. (Plus a drug plan)

I keep stalling on retiring because my employer's plan covers more, has no deductible, and costs me less than the current Part B premium

Dental health is as important as 'traditional' health care.

My dental and vision are covered for a lot less than the services would cost me. If for-profit companies can do it, the government can.

should at a minimum cover cleanings and yearly xrays

might want to check if they have a community health center around that caters to lower income patients. They may have a dental discount program based on income. I make $1200 a month and I was eligible for $20 regular visit and cleaning, $50 to pull a tooth and $500 for dentures. I’ve saved a lot of money.

If American citizens were allowed to decide this, it would pass overwhelmingly - instead to depend on our overlords.

Vote for people that are not owned by Corporate America. This trickle down BS has never worked.

Cannot see. Not covered
Cannot chew. Not covered
Cannot hear. Not covered
Cannot pee. Well now your covered
-Airplane

Why is this suddenly an issue?

My late husband died with seven teeth left. SEVEN rotting teeth.

I had taken him to various dentists and had different plates made for him over the years. None of them worked out very well for him and he never used them very much.

It was a sickening situation

Before he got sick, he needed hearing aids as well. Costco sold him one for $2,000.00 that was fairly useless as well. It was so small he could barely see it out of the one eye he had vision left in. He was blind in the other eye.

I feel like these critical things that people require to live a decent life aren't given to them because they are old. If they are old and they don't have $20,000+ for some fancy dental work or hearing aids, they are out of luck as the government is waiting for them to die.

Great country we have here isn't it?

No respect is how I see it and its nice the way they shovel billions of dollar to the likes of the Ukraine, Israel, etc. etc. while the citizens of this country are doing without what they need to live a decent and healthy life.

If you can't chew your food and you cannot see the food you are trying to eat it is very frustrating and to not be able to hear on top of it makes it plain sad.