Dental Care Should Be Part of Universal Healthcare [View all]
We're a long way from having single-payer healthcare in the US. ACA will expand the pool of people who can get health insurance, and that's a good thing, but single-payer is still what we should be working for. However, that care should included dental care, too. That is a shame on our healthcare system that medical insurance plans, including Medicare, do not include dental care coverage.
Yesterday, my wife, who has a regular dentist, had to go to an emergency dental clinic. She had a severe toothache in a tooth that had been treated with a filling by her regular dentist some time ago. He was out of town, so his office recommended the emergency clinic to her. She went, and ended up having a root canal procedure to take care of the problem. The cost wasn't much higher than if she'd had her regular dentist perform the procedure, and it was great to be able to get an emergency appointment, since she was in some nasty pain and distress. A root canal is an expensive thing. Fortunately, we could use a credit card to cover the cost, but we really don't need another charge on that card.
After we returned home and my wife was sleeping off a dose of pain medicine, I started thinking about such dental emergencies. What do people who can't pay for an emergency root canal procedure do? The alternative, of course, is an extraction, but even that runs about $200 in the city where I live. What if you don't even have that much?
The answer is simple. You suffer. Emergency rooms don't do extractions or any dental work. They'll give you some antibiotics or pain medications for a toothache, but don't handle dental work. I've seen people suffer with a bad tooth for long periods, simply because they cannot afford to have anything done...not even an extraction.
Tooth infections can kill. It's not that common, but it does happen, especially if the infection is not treated. A tooth abscess is a medical emergency, but isn't covered by insurance, public or private, unless you have a costly dental policy.
When we finally do get to single-payer healthcare, we need to insist that it cover serious dental issues. That should be part of any universal healthcare program.
My wife is fine. She got the procedure and is feeling lots better this morning. But, what if we hadn't been able to pay? I don't like that idea one bit.
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