Isn't funny how Dental Care is treated like a "gold plan" with a credit card company.
Only the worthy (or wealthy) need apply.
Vermont Town Meeting on Dental Crisis
sanders.senate.gov -- March 10, 2012
[...]
"As a nation, we don't talk about it much, but there is a dental crisis in America," said Sanders, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. "This is an issue of huge consequence, but it doesn't get the type of attention deserves."
The senator, who presided at a late February hearing in Washington, D.C., on the dental crisis, announced today he plans to introduce legislation to make dental care more affordable and accessible.
[...]
Laura Austan, 53, of Brattleboro, was one of them. "Between the uncovered medical expenses, and the lack of dentists in my area, I haven't regularly seen a dentist in 13 years, almost 14 at this point," she said. "I now have a missing filling, a broken tooth, a cracked tooth, and gingivitis. And I'm sure at some point I'll be losing most of my teeth. We have very few dentists in this area, and very few that will take Medicare. We need better affordable dental care in Vermont, desperately."
According to a report distributed at the meeting, 47 million people live in places where it is difficult to access dental care. More than 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance. One quarter of U.S. adults ages 65 or older have lost all of their teeth. About 17 million low-income children do not see a dentist each year. Tooth decay, the report said, is five times more common among children than asthma.
I've been there -- both with a broken tooth and without a Dentist. Let me tell you, it's not a fun place to be.
It kind of shatters your whole world. (Makes it very difficult to eat too.)
And sometimes even those who have insurance, and can scrape together the funds to pay those steep co-pays, often face a very different problem:
They can't even find a Dentist (taking patients or who will take Medicare) in their area ...
Sanders outlines dental crisis in Vermont and the country
by Chris Garofolo, Brattleboro Reformer -- March 13, 2012
[...]
An estimated 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance and more than 45 million people live in places where services are difficult to access. Reports show low-income people, as well as racial minorities and the elderly, have the most arduous time getting to a dental provider.
[...]
"The reality is in upper middle-class areas around the country, there will be enough dentists," said Sanders. "But in rural low-income areas, there are not enough dentists, so the goal is to not only get more dentists in this country, but to get them out to areas where people desperately need their help and make sure people can afford the care they are providing.
"When we talk about the health care crisis in America, I think we too often forget about the dental crisis as well," he added. "It's a major, major issue which is simply not discussed enough, and what I wanted to do both in Washington [D.C.], where we had a meeting on my committee, and in Vermont is to raise consciousness because I think this is a very serious issue that is impacting tens of thousands of Vermonters."
[...]
There goes that Senator Sanders again.
Always trying to do what's right for the most Americans --
what planet is he living on?
One where people actually smile? One where people actually lend a hand, and look out for the least among us? One where everyone matters?
Here are the core ideas of Sanders plan to make Dental Care more affordable and more accessible, for more Americans ...
Dental Crisis in America -- The Need to Expand Access (pdf)
A Report from Chairman Bernard Sanders
Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
February 29, 2012
[pg 4]
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS FOR INCREASING ACCESS TO DENTAL SERVICES
Expanding the Oral Health Workforce
[...]
[pg 5-6]
Integrating Dental Services: FQHCs and SBHCs as Models
[...]
The oral health care system in America is currently designed around the needs of dentists rather than the needs of those who are under-served. While over 90% of dentists currently work in private dental practices,40 very successful community- and school-based models for the delivery of dental care exist.
Dental services have been successfully integrated into Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which provide comprehensive health services to everyone in a community regardless of their ability to pay. Low-income people and those without insurance can receive care on a sliding-scale fee basis. There are more than 1,100 FQHCs around the country,41 and nearly 3.5 million people received dental services in the health center system
in 2009.42
[...]
School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs), another essential part of the health care safety net, provide needed services for children while in school, particularly those students who lack insurance or have limited access to providers in the community. There are nearly 2,000 school-based health centers around the country.43 According to the Institute of Medicine, students with access to SBHCs are more likely to see a dentist.44 Although SBHCs offer significant potential to increase access to dental care and many do provide preventive services, only a small percentage of schools have professional dental providers on staff or are equipped to provide dental care to students.45 More SBHCs should provide dental care in conjunction with primary medical and other services to expand access to children. Furthermore, innovations such as portable dental clinics and telehealth technologies can be used in these and other settings to reach those in greatest need. It is important that we expand on the community- and school-based models that are already working.
[...]
Well that's certainly something to 'chew on'. Just more "food for thought' from the Senator, who's always thinking.
If only this were a crisis of in a far off foreign land, that took military might "to solve" -- maybe then we could find the resources
-- to fight that never-ending battle against "Tooth Decay."
Then again maybe not. No doubt many would say what's wrong with the plan we have: "Just put it on the platinum card, please."