TODAY: Medicare Open Enrollment is Open!

10.15.2024/Reporters Note

TODAY: Medicare Open Enrollment is Open!

Today is the start of Medicare Open Enrollment and there is more reason than ever before for older Americans and people with disabilities to review their plan options and find new savings and better health care coverage. Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration's Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare recipients have more choices and now is the time to shop around and adjust their health care coverage. Importantly, the $2,000 cap on how much folks can spend out of pocket for their prescriptions starts in a few months, helping older Americans save money and get the medications they need.

But while there are more plan options and savings to help with their health care coverage, what Medicare recipients won't be able to choose is a traditional Medicare plan with dental coverage. Millions of older Americans report going more than a year without visiting the dentist, which can be devastating for overall health if cavities or infections go untreated. Adding a dental benefit to Medicare has significant support across party lines and in rural, suburban and urban communities, and with this growing momentum, now is the time to take action to add dental coverage to Medicare.

As a leading oral health care champion, Families USA has long advocated for improving oral health in Medicare for those who need it most. Today, during its Digital Day of Action, the organization is thanking all lawmakers who co-sponsored the Medicare Dental Benefit Act of 2023 and urging others to do so. This legislation will significantly help close the oral health care equity gap that causes people to skip care and go years without meeting their dental needs.

Families USA offers the following resources. Experts are also available to discuss Medicare open enrollment and the organization's oral health policy agenda.

• Insights Column on how the IRA is reducing health care costs
• Insights Column on Congressional efforts to improve oral health.
• Statement for the record on the Senate HELP hearing, Examining the Dental Care Crisis in America: How Can We Make Dental Care More Affordable and More Available? held in May.
• Statement for the record on the Senate Finance Health Care Subcommittee hearing, An Oral Health Crisis: Identifying and Addressing Health Disparities, held in March 2023.