Cover Oral Health Care

Despite the wealth of evidence that oral health is related to physical health, Medicare excludes routine dental care from coverage. While some Medicare Advantage plans may offer dental benefits, this coverage is often limited and can be inconsistent both across plans and from year to year. To address this unmet need, Congress must add a comprehensive oral health benefit to Part B. To best reflect the evidence base and align with the scope of current Medicare coverage, this benefit should be structured to include both medically necessary procedures as well as preventive care, and subject to the same cost sharing rules as other Part B services.