BIDEN’S BIG PUSH
Extra coverage, age 60 eligibility would be part of new plan
Those enrolled in Medicare could be covered for dental, hearing devices and eyeglasses — basic medical needs not presently paid for by the popular federal plan available to those 65 and older — if President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar government-reshaping plan ever gets signed into law.
The president’s sweeping — and contentious — legislation, which doesn’t yet have complete support of even the Democrats, could also lower the eligibility age for the insurance to 60.
Presently, those on Medicare must buy additional insurance or pay out-of pocket for normal health-care needs like eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids and dental visits, and many have been pushing for years to get those necessities under the Medicare blanket.
In 2019, the Democrat-controlled House passed the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would have added the benefits to Medicare, but it never got through the then Republicancontrolled Senate.
The fact that the benefits have not been covered by Medicare in the nearly 60-year-old program since it was introduced is surprising to experts.
“The bottom line is that Medicare benefits are inadequate and it is long overdue for Congress to add coverage for these services that are absolutely integral to the health of program beneficiaries,” said Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of social medicine and health policy and management at University of North CarolinaChapel Hill and author of “The Political Life of Medicare.”
“The costs of adding hearing, vision, and dental to Medicare are modest relative to the size of the federal budget or what we currently spend in the U.S. on health care.”
And such coverage would be money well spent for Medicare users. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on national health issues, the move to cover dental, eyesight and hearing could save Medicare users plenty in out-of-pocket expense which, in 2018, averaged nearly $900 in dental costs alone — with one in five spending more than $1,000.
The same report revealed nearly half of seniors on Medicare skipped dental visits altogether, with that number increasing to nearly 70% for Black Medicare recipients.
Those choosing to get their ears checked out also averaged about $900 in costs, while those getting new glasses racked up an additional $230 in bills.
Lowering the Medicare age limit to 60, which would open the program up to nearly 20 million additional Americans, was promised by Biden during his campaign against Donald Trump — and Sen. Charles Schumer noted in an August memorandum to Democrats that bringing the age down is a priority of the 2022 Budget Resolution Agreement.
But Oberlander worries that won’t be happening anytime soon.
“While popular with the public, lowering the Medicare eligibility age is strongly opposed by much of the health care industry, including hospitals and private insurers,” he said. “It has very little chance of passing this Congress given the slim Democratic majorities … though it could re-emerge as an issue in the future.”