Schumer backing plan to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by Barack_Odrama00
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Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerCentrists gain foothold in infrastructure talks; cyber attacks at center of Biden-Putin meeting Five takeaways on the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision Senate confirms Chris Inglis as first White House cyber czar MORE (D-N.Y.) on Sunday threw his support behind a push, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersThe Memo: The center strikes back Sanders against infrastructure deal with more gas taxes, electric vehicle fees Sunday shows - Voting rights, infrastructure in the spotlight MORE (I-Vt.), to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare.

“There is a gaping hole in Medicare that leaves out dental, vision, and hearing coverage. This is a serious problem,” Schumer wrote on Twitter.

“I’m working with @SenSanders to push to include dental, vision, and hearing Medicare coverage in the American Jobs and Families Plans,” he added.

Schumer, during a news conference on Sunday, made the case for expanding Medicare coverage to include dental, vision and hearing, noting the "more serious medical problems" a lack of coverage causes.

“If you talk to family medicine or primary care doctors, they will tell you with certainty that ignoring medical issues related to dental, vision and hearing often devolves into far more serious medical problems for people — especially seniors — that cost more to treat and are harder to remedy,” Schumer said, according to the New York Daily News.

“With the current Medicare platform, those three things are just left out, like it’s no big deal. But it is a big deal and we should fix it,” he added.

Schumer said the campaign to expand Medicare will be an “uphill legislative effort,” adding that lawmakers will have to “galvanize support from the public.”

“This is absolutely an uphill legislative effort because there are some in the Senate who really don’t think this is a problem worth fixing, and so we have to galvanize support from the public,” Schumer said, according to the Daily News.

“Now is our chance to fix a giant Medicare health care hole for seniors that inevitably costs lives,” he added.

Democrats are attempting to expand Medicare as a part of President Biden Joe BidenExpanding child tax credit could lift 4 million children out of poverty: analysis Maria Bartiromo defends reporting: 'Keep trashing me, I'll keep telling the truth' The Memo: The center strikes back MORE's infrastructure plans, with negotiators working to build a proposal that is acceptable to both parties.

A bipartisan group of 10 senators earlier this month unveiled an agreement on a “compromise framework” to invest $1.2 trillion in infrastructure over the next eight years, which has gained steam on Capitol Hill.

Some Democrats, however, are still pushing for Biden’s sweeping infrastructure proposal to be passed through reconciliation, which would nix the 60-vote legislative hurdle needed to approve the wide-ranging reforms.

superdatstub on June 21st, 2021 at 14:24 UTC »

It’s crazy to me that the party full of Christian conservatives would be upset with this.

kaptainkeel on June 21st, 2021 at 13:54 UTC »

I hope they remove the shitty annual maximums too. Dental is often $2k max per year even for the top-end ones. And, of course, you have coinsurance with the insurance (30-50% minimum) even up to that $2k, so in reality you're likely paying at least $1k out of pocket before hitting the max, after which everything is out of pocket. I don't even know how it's called insurance; it's a complete scam for anyone that needs anything more than a routine cleaning.

Then anything that is more along the lines of oral surgery, e.g. wisdom teeth extraction? Lol, good luck! Doesn't fall under medical insurance, and half the time dental doesn't cover it. Even if it does, it's often 50% coinsurance and it's expensive so you're out $500+ per wisdom tooth (more if you've had any work during the year since you'd go way over the annual maximum). As a direct example, I had to get one wisdom tooth out when I was still on my dad's plan. He had the best his work offered because I've always had issues with my teeth. Even with insurance, it was over $750 for a single wisdom tooth that was already through the gum.

Edit: Thanks for the silver, I'll see if my dentist can use it in my next filling to save a little money.

Travelerdude on June 21st, 2021 at 12:05 UTC »

This is something that impacts the elderly and Medicare coverage would be a huge benefit to them.