As a nurse,I am 100% behind Universal health care...how about dental?

[w8liftinglady]

will our UHC automatically cover dental care as well?Access to ANY kind of dental care is almost impossible if you are uninsured.At least you CAN get emergency medical care in an ER.My New Year's Resolution will be petitioning congress to include dental care for all Americans.
See these reports
http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/7798.pdf

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/dentalcare/dentria.htm

More links o be added as I find them

[Cleita]

1. I believe HR 676 includes dental and

basic dental is included in most NHC plans in other countries. Also included are eye exams and glasses if needed.

[w8liftinglady]

7. thankyou so much...I found a link to the site

http://www.hr676.org/

[Cleita]

8. The first link on my signature leads you directly to John Conyer's website

who is one of the sponsors of HR 676.

[azurnoir]

2. That should be part of the deal

as the two interconnect

[tbyg52]

3. Absolutely - talking care of your teeth and gums *is* a health issue. nt

[supernova]

4. UHC should definitely include dental

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. Glasses are a necessity for many millions of people.

150 million people in the U.S. wear corrective lenses of some type.

[Blue Gardener]

34. Glasses can be very expensive

I had to go to bifocals after my last exam. They were over $400! A lot of people simply can't afford to replace their old glasses.

[Marblehead]

35. I ordered glasses online

$8 a pair, bifocals are a few dollars more..I was happy with the 2 pairs that I got.

[Morning Dew]

6. Dental and optical are essential. NM

[pop goes the weasel]

9. dental is so important

I've long maintained that, if full medical isn't covered, that at least full dental should be. There is no medical condition that poor teeth don't make worse, and most people on low and fixed incomes can't afford dentists, so their teeth just get worse and their health declines even more. I know several people right now who need root canals and can't afford them. How much better if they had been able to just get a cavity filled!

[Juche]

24. Poor oral health can aggrevate dementia and cardiovascular disease

The argument is that if your teeth are in poor condition alot of bacteria, inflammation and inflammatory chemicals exist in the mouth and jaw. These chemicals and bacteria eventually leak into the rest of the body and damage the cardiovascular system, leading to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and alzheimers. We are even finding links between diabetes and poor oral health

http://www.perio.org/consumer/mbc.heart.htm

[donco6]

10. The separation shouldn't be Medical v. Dental, but

"elective" versus "imperative". Some dental procedures are imperative. They should be treated as the life-or-limb threatening emergencies that they are. Even bridges, crowns, should not be considered elective.

So, yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you. UHC should apply to dental as well.

[xchrom]

11. i've always thought of the mouth as part of the body. nt

[dcsmart]

12. YES. Dental is part of HR 676

here are some links that provide a lot of information about HR 676. This is important Legislation. Find out if your elected officials support it.

http://timetofight.tumblr.com/post/62709450/physicians-for-a-national-health-program-pda


http://timetofight.tumblr.com/post/62706962/rep-john-conyers-health-care-hr-676-the


http://timetofight.tumblr.com/post/62700929/healthcare-now-what-is-single-payer-healthcare


I hope this answers some of your questions.


EDITOR
PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRACY
http://timetofight.tumblr.com/

[w8liftinglady]

16. thanks-those were very helpful

I have been trying to get some of my doctors on board with this...why wouldn't they be?

[dcsmart]

20. good question

many doctors are. you can see http://www.pnhp.org/

the links on my site refer to other Med organizations that support HR676. It would be interesting to hear why your docs are not . i have asked a couple and two issues seem to be the same:
money. and quality of care. the money issue is important. i think many of the doctors think they will be payed salaries like VA doctors. the profit incentive is gone then. I think some of them are suspicious of quality of care because of the medical situation in Canada. i think every doctor or dentist has some story about bad care in canada. i think US policy makers have enough health care models around the world to see what works and what does not. I think we could fix problems that exist in other programs. Malpractice insurance is also a big concern for doctors. A government health care program will have to take that into account also.

EDITOR
PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRACY
http://timetofight.tumblr.com/

[bobbolink]

13. We will get what we demand.

Rather than asking what it will cover, now is the time to FIGHT for it all!

It's WE, THE PEOPLE

Yes, we poor folk are all doing just fine getting our health care from the E.R.

:sarcasm: :eyes: :silly:

[LWolf]

14. HR 676. nt

[Kip Humphrey]

15. As long as my teeth stay in my head they are a part of me just like my brain (mental health)...

There should be no parsing (or dismemberment) when it comes to health coverage.

[TahitiNut]

17. Dental, optical, and mental health are absolutely essential components of HEALTH.

No matter how 'specialized' the various practitioners become, the human health condition is still totally and completely interconnected and integrated. Let's never let the abstract of reductionist viewpoints blind us to the reality.

[graywarrior]

18. Mr Gray has been online making deals with dentists in Costa Rica

[leftofthedial]

19. and vision.

they all overlap.

[dysfunctional press]

21. "Access to ANY kind of dental care is almost impossible if you are uninsured"

since when?

i've had LOTS of dental work done- most of it without benefit of insurance, and i've never had a dentist turn me away for not having it.

[w8liftinglady]

32. maybe where you live...

In texas,it is very difficult to find a dentist who will take unfunded patients.I have always have dental insurance,but many of my colleagues have not,and have foregone their own dental care to insure that their kids' teeth were taken care of.Come to Texas and see how many toothless people there are.

[bluesmail]

22. No dental? That's like saying sorry, we don't accept your Ins. card. Good

that it is in Conyers bill! So very important.

[Juche]

23. You can get dental care if you are uninsured

Most dental insurance plans have a cap of $1000 a year, and routine maintenance is not really expensive anyway. An oral exam, professional cleaning and x-rays usually cost $100 or less for everything, at least in Indiana. If you are on a dental discount plan (maybe $10-15/month for a family) you can get your dental work half off. I have had cavities filled for $40 each. Serious work (root canals, restorative work) is expensive as hell, but regular maintenance in the form of x-rays, checkups, cleanings and fillings for cavities is not too bad and can be done w/o insurance.

HR676 covers dental work.

[unblock]

25. whose idea was it to carve out dental from the rest of health, anyway?

i mean, why are the teeth the ONLY body part covered separately?

[jtrockville]

26. Not just dental... we need to include vision and mental health.

NONE of it should be separated.

[dflprincess]

27. Because it took the medical profession this long to figure out that just maybe your teeth

may affect the rest of your body - especially heart health. (I think dentists had this figured out a while ago)

[yardwork]

28. Dental is essential. Poor oral health is linked to serious medical conditions

like heart disease, kidney failure, sepsis. Poor oral health is no joke. Millions of children are in terrible pain everyday from untreated caries. It seriously impedes their ability to go to school.

[tblue37]

29. One noncom in the Army once said that when the

new recruits, who are often from the working classes, come in, the first thing the Army has to do is fix their teeth, which are often a terrible mess. He said that seeing how bad these kids' teeth were by the time they were old enough to join the Army (just 18, afetr all) made him understand finally what a luxury dental care is in this country.

Tooth decay and gum infections are also implicated in all sorts of other physical illnesses--like heart disease, for example.

[pdxmike]

30. Kaiser in the NW (Oregon) has a Dental service

It's independent of the Kaiser HMO (but is still under the umbrella of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans). I've been a member since 1990, and I love it. Just like Kaiser Permanente Medical, it's not for profit. They focus on prevention (neither of my kids have ever had as much as a cavity). The services they provide are complete but short on the whistles and bells. My father was a DDS, so I think I can spot good service.

BTW- this is the only Kaiser region that offers a Dental service.

[shadowknows69]

31. That should definitely be included

My general health is affected by the fact I haven't had dental care since adolescence, bad teeth= frequent and sometimes life threatening infection.

[Kansas Wyatt]

33. I still do not understand how optical and dental are not part of health care.

Ah... Just another way for insurance companies to screw over their customers.

Insurance companies have provided the best reason for their demise with government health care. Piss on them, they had their chance, and they got too greedy.