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AKwannabe

(6,318 posts)
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:05 AM Sep 2

There better be universal coverage for DENTAL

Before any universal coverage for IVF.

We all have teeth. We NEED universal coverage for dental.

A small minority want IVF.
It is NOT NEEDED.

This fucking shite with candidates pandering to minority lifestyle choices is as close to buying votes as it gets.

DENTAL coverage-that is something we can all get behind and we all have in common.

IVF is a personal choice. Adoption is a personal choice. Dental is not.

IVF is expensive and we should not have to kick in to help someone pay for it.

(In case this is needed…I have compassion for infertility. But the truth is it is not NEEDED.)

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
There better be universal coverage for DENTAL (Original Post) AKwannabe Sep 2 OP
I agree that teeth (and ears and eyes) should be covered. But I also paid out $25 thousand last year alone flying_wahini Sep 2 #1
If I wanted to talk about IVF being only for the wealthy then I would have in the OP AKwannabe Sep 2 #3
Dental will never happen. It's expensive and unlike medical, majority will go twice a year. jimfields33 Sep 2 #10
+1 CrispyQ Sep 2 #2
Dental issues have a cascading effect ... Alice B. Sep 2 #4
I am staring down a similar situation AKwannabe Sep 2 #5
This is a crisis, as far as I'm concerned. Alice B. Sep 2 #9
Doubt we'll get any dental help, unfortunately. Biden had plan in 2021, but it was only $2000 annually and wouldn't have Silent Type Sep 2 #6
Everybody wants that but I doubt it will happen. Autumn Sep 2 #7
What we need is comprehensive universal healthcare. Voltaire2 Sep 2 #8
We need taxes raised a lot to cover that. Not saying it's a bad idea, but will the population jimfields33 Sep 2 #11
Not really. Voltaire2 Sep 2 #13
It going to take a heck of a lot more than payroll tax. 100 million paying for 335 million? jimfields33 Sep 2 #15
Oddly enough every other developed country has some form of universal healthcare Voltaire2 Sep 2 #16
Eventually we will have it. But I'd make it so everyone must use a public hospital jimfields33 Sep 2 #17
How about both? Elessar Zappa Sep 2 #12
Routine dental exams and cleanings are not expensive dlk Sep 2 #14
Dental insurance CountAllVotes Sep 11 #18

flying_wahini

(7,983 posts)
1. I agree that teeth (and ears and eyes) should be covered. But I also paid out $25 thousand last year alone
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:11 AM
Sep 2

For IVF treatment for my son and his wife. Most of it being for drugs that have been around for a decade or 2 . So I’m going with a hard yes on Drug benefits if nothing else. The big pharma has it all locked up.
And by the way, my sister’s son (who works for Boeing) his IVF treatment was covered 100%.
Drugs, too. Go figure.
And before you start talking about how it’s only for wealthy people, yeah, it is.

Thankfully my son and his wife and are 3 months pregnant. Yippee!!

AKwannabe

(6,318 posts)
3. If I wanted to talk about IVF being only for the wealthy then I would have in the OP
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:16 AM
Sep 2

But I didn’t.

What you did was rub it in that your nephew is covered 100% ALREADY. Just not the drugs.

Thanks for that. Helps make my point even clearer.

jimfields33

(18,654 posts)
10. Dental will never happen. It's expensive and unlike medical, majority will go twice a year.
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 10:25 AM
Sep 2

That’s why most insurance makes you have a separate dental insurance including Medicare.

CrispyQ

(38,166 posts)
2. +1
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:13 AM
Sep 2

Ears, vision, dental, mental for everyone. Just think if we treated mental illness instead of scorning it, how many societal ills we'd fix. And an economy-for-all would go a long way to fixing alot of mental issues.

Alice B.

(210 posts)
4. Dental issues have a cascading effect ...
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:23 AM
Sep 2

…impacting all aspects of one’s health.

… Mental and physical health. They impact job—seeking and employment.

People on medical assistance struggle to find providers because of low reimbursement rates and then struggle with circumscribed options. Having cried over yet another (potentially fatal) abscess without any coverage (while frantically googling home remedies), and later, with coverage, having cried in the chair while being told I’d need yet another tooth extracted while trying to find a job… ask me how I know.

I’m in a better place now, with better coverage, but still going into debt for an implant. It sounds like a “luxury” but I need it over less expensive options for myriad reasons.

I don’t want to sound like I lack empathy for those struggling with fertility but access to dental care is my hobby horse.

AKwannabe

(6,318 posts)
5. I am staring down a similar situation
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:31 AM
Sep 2

25 year old front crowns going bad.
Broke them in an accident

I work in the public - with no benefits. I have no dental insurance. It is maddening.

I MUST pay for health insurance. Can only afford a plan with a $6000 deductible or face the consequences at tax time. I pay but get NO benefits unless it is above $6000

Alice B.

(210 posts)
9. This is a crisis, as far as I'm concerned.
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:55 AM
Sep 2

If our elected officials had to campaign and work with a mouthful of bad teeth, things might be different.

Silent Type

(6,471 posts)
6. Doubt we'll get any dental help, unfortunately. Biden had plan in 2021, but it was only $2000 annually and wouldn't have
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:33 AM
Sep 2

started until 2028. Much better than nothing, but not much. And it never made the cut in final Build Back Better bill.

Voltaire2

(14,675 posts)
8. What we need is comprehensive universal healthcare.
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 09:45 AM
Sep 2

Not the hodgepodge piecemeal corrupt shitshow we now have.

One plan. Covers all necessary healthcare from prenatal to hospice.

jimfields33

(18,654 posts)
11. We need taxes raised a lot to cover that. Not saying it's a bad idea, but will the population
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 10:30 AM
Sep 2

agree to increased taxes? Once that’s a hard yes then it can be done.

Voltaire2

(14,675 posts)
13. Not really.
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 10:42 AM
Sep 2

Of course we obviously need to tax the oligarchs who are wrecking the world, but comprehensive universal healthcare can be funded using a payroll tax that would be lower than what people are already paying in premiums, copays, deductibles, and the billing horseshit that always manages to find some way to make you pay out of pocket for services.

jimfields33

(18,654 posts)
15. It going to take a heck of a lot more than payroll tax. 100 million paying for 335 million?
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 11:52 AM
Sep 2

Not even close to sustainable.

Voltaire2

(14,675 posts)
16. Oddly enough every other developed country has some form of universal healthcare
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 01:54 PM
Sep 2

And their per-capita costs are much lower than ours, and their quality of healthcare, by all objective measures, is generally better than ours.

The nonsense that this is not affordable ignores the current cost of providing healthcare, including medicare, medicaid, and 'private' (for profit) health insurance. A single universal system that properly regulated costs would reduce the total cost significantly.

jimfields33

(18,654 posts)
17. Eventually we will have it. But I'd make it so everyone must use a public hospital
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 02:19 PM
Sep 2

Absolutely no private hospitals authorized. The reason is the wealthy get to go to their own hospital and the rest are in a public hospital. I know in many places, they still have wards. I can’t see many wanting ten or more patients in together. I had surgery in Sicily and they still had bottles for IVs. Did I die? No. But I thought it was strange.

Elessar Zappa

(15,760 posts)
12. How about both?
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 10:34 AM
Sep 2

We’re an extremely rich country. We could have better system than Scandinavia if there was the collective will,

dlk

(12,324 posts)
14. Routine dental exams and cleanings are not expensive
Mon Sep 2, 2024, 11:00 AM
Sep 2

They can prevent many more costly dental procedures and provide early detect of other diseases, such as cancer. Not providing dental coverage ends up costing the healthcare system much more in the long run after acute situations are allowed to develop undetected, or untreated. We are being penny wise and pound foolish.

IVF is important too. With infertility issues so commonplace if we truly value families, they need help too. The underlying issue is massive price gouging by the pharmaceutical industry.

We have ample resources to care for each other. The issue is where do the funds go?

CountAllVotes

(21,046 posts)
18. Dental insurance
Wed Sep 11, 2024, 06:05 AM
Sep 11

I have dental insurance (Delta Dental) but no one will take it where I live.

The dentists that used to take it no longer do. They claim they don't get enough money from the insurance so its F/U.

I pay for this insurance out of my tiny pension that I receive from the State of California and they pay for part of it is well.

How is this legal?

I am so disgusted by this.

Even with insurance what good is it?

It is NEVER ENOUGH.

Greed rules!

& recommend.

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