Medicare Reform: Dentists in Hiding

Port Townsend. Sharing with you a letter I wrote this evening to the Editor of the Port Townsend Leader. The letter needs no setup. It speaks for itself:

There was an alarming snap in my mouth tonight as I was eating dinner. For the second time in six months, a filling has fallen out of my senior choppers. You may think two options are available to me: Medicare or Insurance.

Medicare: With all the bickering about changes to provide basic health care, one group - dentists - are hunkered down behind their x-ray curtains praying the current reform storm will blow over their protected turf.

In the mid 1960s, during Congressional review of the then-pending Medicare and Medicaid legislation, the American Dental Association (ADA) opposed dental care for the aged under the Medicare bill and lobbied for the exclusion of dentistry as a benefit under the proposed Medicaid legislation.

Today, Medicare does not cover routine dental care or most dental procedures, such as cleanings, fillings, tooth extractions, or dentures. Even if Medicare pays to have teeth extracted as preparation for a certain medical procedure, like kidney surgery, you are responsible for the cost of your dentures!

Those Republicans know how to write a business plan! Why subsidize old folk who are liable to kick the bucket before they pay off their dental bills! Not a good business model!

Insurance: The availability of private dental insurance coverage decreases with the age. Per capita expenditures for dental services decrease with increasing age, particularly for the 85+ age group. And if you are fortunate enough to qualify for dental insurance, coverage is pitiful. For example, one typical plan will save you $8.00 on a $65 six-month checkup. 10-15% is average saving. (It cost’s more to process the paperwork!)

As the older population becomes increasingly educated on issues such as the lack of dental coverage and its potential impact on their overall health, its time for us to become politically active. It's a recognized fact that a healthy mouth promotes overall good health, according to the ADA! Expansion of Medicare to include dentistry would offset burgeoning medical costs brought on by the lack of increasing medically necessary dental care.

Don't waste you time and energy "flaming" me with diatribes condemning public health coverage. You may find yourself in my position sooner or later.

What do I do in the meantime with this second gaping hole in my mouth? When Oil of Cloves won't numb the throbbing pain, guess I'll have to find my vice-grips, and pray the damn socket doesn't get infected …

Irritated? You better believe it. I am fed right up to here with the "Me First" instead of "We First" attitude the damn Republicans are shining on us. Tricky (I'm going to keep the dog...) Dick and Ronald (Bonzo Goes to College) Regan made good and sure their cronies got the greased palm, and we got the un-greased stick!

If you've forgotten your Medical History of the United States, then it is time for you to review Michael Moore's "Sicko!" As a matter of fact, I don't recall "Sicko!" being booked on any US outlet. I viewed it the other night on CBUT-TV out of Vancouver British Columbia!

I feel much better having gotten that off my chest! And so as to leave you with a smile on your face, I give you "The Dentist" with W.C. Fields ... what we call "comic relief!"