Only about half of older adults in the US have health insurance that covers dental care, according to new research out of Harvard. Millions cannot afford to pay out of pocket for dental care. Consequently, people with Medicare are less likely to get dental care and more likely to lose their teeth.
Although you are most at risk of needing dental care by the time you enroll in Medicare, you are least likely to have insurance coverage for dental care. Medicare helps promote health equity when it comes to medical and hospital care. But, because Medicare does not cover dental care, it promotes racial dental health inequities.
Medicare Advantage plans, which are offered by private insurers, often attract enrollees because they claim to offer dental coverage. But, Medicare Advantage plans have no meaningful data showing that the the dental coverage they offer is easy to access or affordable. And, it appears that most people in Medicare Advantage plans offering dental coverage do not get this benefit. Out-of-pocket costs can be high and in-network providers can be scarce, preventing many Medicare Advantage plan enrollees from getting the dental services they need.
Researchers found that enrollees in Medicare Advantage with a dental benefit did not use dental services any more than people in Traditional Medicare, even though Traditional Medicare does not cover dental services. Moreover, Medicare Advantage enrollees had a significantly larger drop in dental spending from private insurance at age sixty-five than Traditional Medicare enrollees.
The researchers looked at whether people in Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage were able to continue to get dental services after they turned 65. They did not see a decrease in annual visits. But, they saw that nearly nine percent fewer people were receiving fillings or crowns. The researchers also saw that millions more people–nearly one in 20–were losing all their teeth.
“Loss of teeth can have a number of negative downstream effects,” said one expert. “It’s associated with many geriatric conditions, including frailty and cognitive function.”
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