Susan Stevens: Urge Congress to make Medicare benefits more encompassing for seniors

To The Daily Sun,

I recently finished a yearlong process of replacing a broken front tooth with an implant. With my dental insurance that one tooth cost me thousands of dollars out of pocket. Why doesn’t Medicare cover teeth?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three adults over the age of 65 has untreated dental decay. This can lead to pain, infection and other health problems. For instance, if you need cancer treatment, your doctor may need to delay it if you have dental decay. Your dental issues would need to be addressed before your cancer treatment can start. Dental decay causes pain that can affect seniors’ ability to eat, sleep and socialize. It’s also been proven that bacteria from dental decay and gum disease can travel to the heart, causing life-threatening issues.

Currently, Medicare only covers surgical vision procedures such as cataracts. Many seniors can’t afford Medicare Advantage plans, which cover regular eye exams and corrective lenses. Left untreated, vision problems can lead to falls, accidents such as burns, and social isolation.

Hearing aids are not covered by Medicare as of 2023. A bill was introduced in Congress in January, but has yet to be passed. A recent study at Johns Hopkins found that older adults with severe hearing loss were more likely to have dementia, but the likelihood of dementia was lower among hearing aid users compared to non-users. Over-the-counter hearing aids have helped reduce the cost of hearing aids. Unfortunately, they aren’t for everyone.

Let’s urge Congress to take action on this important issue and make dental, vision and hearing a benefit under Medicare for all seniors.

Susan Stevens

Alton