U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson will lead the effort to pass the Medicare Dental, Vision, and Hearing Benefit Act in the next Congress.
The bill would repeal the statutory exclusion that currently prohibits Medicare from covering most dental, vision and hearing care, and expand benefits to include items such as dentures, preventive and emergency dental care, according to an Oct. 19 news release from Mr. Thompson’s office.
Currently, more than 24 million Medicare beneficiaries do not have dental coverage.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who authored the bill, is set to retire and tapped Mr. Thompson to continue the legislation, the release said.
