Tell your Members of Congress to Support Medically Necessary Dental Care

People with Medicare face significant health risks because they do not have access to medically necessary dental care. There is an ongoing effort to urge CMS to use their existing administrative authority to allow this coverage, and we need your help!

Ask your members of Congress to sign on to letters asking CMS to provide Medicare coverage for medically necessary dental care, as authorized by law. 

Medically necessary dental care refers to care that is needed to resolve dental infections or diseases that risk complicating or standing in the way of receiving important, Medicare-covered treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, organ transplants, immunosuppression, and cardiac surgery.

Currently, if a beneficiary needs dental work done in order to undergo such a medical procedure, Medicare won’t cover the oral health work. This lack of treatment can exacerbate beneficiaries’ health conditions and increase Medicare’s costs for treating their illnesses.

CMS has the authority to allow coverage for dental care in such medical circumstances. We need members of Congress to urge CMS to exercise that authority. 

This effort has the support of a broad coalition, including 80 prominent organizations (AARP, ADA, Families USA, Medicare Rights Center, and numerous medical societies and associations) that understand just how important this coverage is. You can learn more by reading the coalition’s community statement.

Take action today.