I am writing to urge you to support legislation that expands the Medicare program to include dental, hearing, and vision benefits. Since its implementation in 1965, Medicare has excluded coverage for routine dental care, hearing aids and related audiology services, and routine eye exams and eyeglasses, despite the large numbers of older Americans who need such items and services. Older adults who do not get the dental, hearing, and vision services they need, or who have to delay needed treatment because of cost, are at greater risk for avoidable emergency department visits, hospitalizations, skilled nursing facility visits, falls, isolation, depression, dementia, and greater dependence on family caregivers. For many seniors, standalone dental, hearing, and vision coverage is simply too expensive. By providing low-cost dental, hearing, and vision coverage up front through traditional Medicare, beneficiaries will be healthier and save money. Thank you for your attention to my concerns. I hope you take swift action to ensure that our most vulnerable Americans can access the care they need.

I am writing to urge you to improve Medicare coverage by including dental, hearing, and vision care. The need for dental, hearing, and vision coverage of is great. Almost two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries, or nearly 37 million people, do not have dental coverage, nearly half of people older than age 75 and one-third of those ages 65 to 74 have hearing loss, and 92% of Medicare beneficiaries use eyeglasses. Traditional Medicare beneficiaries can purchase costly standalone coverage, although not for hearing aids and services, but rates of uptake are low. Those in private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, just over one-third of Medicare beneficiaries, may receive these services as supplemental benefits, but the generosity of that coverage varies. For those with coverage (standalone and MA), they incur large out-of-pocket costs that amount to 62 percent of vision spending, 70 percent of dental spending and 79 percent of hearing spending. These costs are unsustainable, both to beneficiaries and the health care system. Adding these benefits to Medicare is a sensible investment that will capture savings through better preventative care. Making this investment up front in Medicare will save money down the road. Thank you for your attention to my concerns. Please take action now to ensure that older Americans can get the basic care they need.

I am writing to urge you to include dental, hearing, and vision coverage in Medicare as you debate legislation to improve the program. Since its implementation in 1965, Medicare has excluded coverage for routine dental care, hearing aids and related audiology services, and routine eye exams and eyeglasses, despite the large numbers of older Americans who need such items and services. Excluding these services does not make sense. For beneficiaries, it forces many to go without basic care. For the health care system, it leads to the need to treat more serious, more expensive conditions down the line. By focusing on adding these benefits and bolstering preventative care, Medicare will improve beneficiaries’ health while saving the overall health care system money. The need for dental, hearing, and vision coverage is great. Almost two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries, or nearly 37 million people, do not have dental coverage. Almost half of all Medicare beneficiaries did not have a dental visit within the past year (2016) due to cost and other barriers. Nearly half of people older than age 75 and one-third of those ages 65 to 74 have hearing loss. Furthermore, only 1 in 4 Americans diagnosed with hearing issues uses a hearing aid, with cost being a major barrier to obtaining them. Additionally, individuals older than age 70 account for approximately 80% of the 2.8 million Americans with low vision with 92% of Medicare beneficiaries using eyeglasses. It makes much more sense to cover dental, vision, and hearing care directly within Medicare than to force seniors to find expensive outside coverage. Thank you for your attention to my concerns. I hope you take swift action to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries can stay healthy.