What the Make America Healthy Again initiative could mean for oral health: 10 notes

The Trump administration’s healthcare platform, Make America Healthy Again, will create both opportunities and potential challenges for the dental profession and oral health, according to an article published in the Journal of the American Dental Association. 

Here are 10 things to know from the article, written by ADA president Brett Kessler, DDS, and president-elect Richard Rosato, DMD:

1. Under the MAHA plan, the U.S. will shift its focus more on reducing chronic disease, emphasizing preventive health, increasing medical research transparency and shuffling federal healthcare programs.
2. The ADA is pushing for oral healthcare to be better integrated with national healthcare.
3. The potential Medicaid restructuring, designed to reduce federal spending, could put dental benefits for low-income Americans at risk. The ADA is advocating for both child and adult Medicaid plans to include a dental benefit. 
4. Currently, most Medicare Advantage plans include at least some dental coverage. By expanding MA, the program could have better coverage standards and increased transparency and choices for individuals. 
5. The ADA pledged its commitment to providing data and research related to community water fluoridation, as there have been increasing debates on its health impacts. 
6. Looking toward the future, the ADA is directing its focus on four key areas: reforming dental insurance, raising oral health literacy, addressing dental workforce issues and investing in prevention.
7. A few issues in the dental insurance industry that the organization is looking to rectify include annual benefit limits, high out-of-pocket costs for patients, administrative problems, the lack of transparency and unregulated insurer loss ratios. 
8. Raising the level of awareness and knowledge concerning the link between oral health and overall health is important, especially for individuals with other health conditions, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. 
9. The ADA is looking for avenues to fix dental workforce shortages by strengthening programs focused on training, development pathway initiatives as well as loan repayment and scholarship opportunities for dental staff in high-need areas. 
10. Investing in the preventive side of dental care could be beneficial by reducing caries and inflammation, leading to the U.S. healthcare system saving money.