Does Medicare Cover Dental?

Medicare, the federal healthcare program for Americans over age sixty five, covers just a very limited number of dental services in very serious situations.

Exactly how serious? Well, If you have cancer in the jaw of yours and need teeth extracted to prepare for radiation treatment, which would be severe enough. Also, if you were preparing for kidney transplant, you can count on Medicare to assist with the costs for a dental examination.

Furthermore, the official Medicare site vaguely claims that a non-covered dentistry service Might be covered whether it is the result of, or maybe a crucial part of, a protected dentistry program as long as it is carried out by the same Medicare approved dentist.

Apart from these exact situations, dental services aren’t covered by Medicare. Even though dental solutions could be an immensely important component of keeping you healthy and pain free, Medicare doesn’t pay some aspect of the dental cleanings of yours, crowns, fillings, root canals or perhaps dentures.

How about supplements? Don’t medicare supplements pay for the things which are not covered by Medicare?

No! Actually, Medicare supplement plans (aka Medigap plans) enable you to pay for a part of a Medicare approved program, not unapproved treatments including tooth care.

The only time you could see a Medicare plan offering some dental services is whether it is offered as a bonus for people who sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan.

Medicare advantage plans aren’t supplementing Medicare, however. These plans (also known as Medicare Part C programs) are personal contracts with insurance companies or other health care companies that are replacing Medicare Part A and B, instead of just filling in the gaps. The plans usually are designed as PPO or HMO plans with doctors & hospitals enlisted as network providers. Such plans will commonly need to have you make use of the network for health and fitness services, or chronic bad breath – visit web site, maybe discourage out of community services with significantly higher costs.