76.5 million Americans are without dental insurance: CareQuest

A September report from the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health shows that about 76.5 million adults in the U.S. do not have dental insurance, while Medicare beneficiaries have the largest unmet need for dental coverage.

Researchers collected data about dental insurance coverage in January and February 2021 among a sample of 5,320 U.S. adults with a 5.2 percent response rate.

Rates of dental coverage among those with different types of health insurance:

Share of Medicare beneficiaries (59.4 million) with access to dental coverage
Medicare Advantage: 24 percent (14.3 million)
Medicaid: 9 percent (5.3 million)
Private: 18 percent (10.7 million)
Other: 5 percent (3 million)
No dental coverage: 44 percent (26.1 million)

Share of Medicaid beneficiaries (28.4 million) with access to dental coverage
Medicare advantage: 1 percent (0.3 million)
Medicaid: 64 percent (18.2 million)
Private: 2 percent (0.6 million)
Other: 3 percent (0.8 million)
No dental coverage: 30 percent (8.5 million)

Share of privately insured Americans (124 million) with access to dental coverage
Medicare Advantage: 1 percent (1.2 million)
Medicaid: Less than 1 percent (100,000)
Private: 85 percent (105.4 million)
Other: 1 percent (1.2 million)
No dental coverage: 13 percent (16.1 million)

Share of uninsured Americans (23.3 million) with access to dental coverage
Medicare Advantage: 2 percent (500,000)
Medicaid: 1 percent (200,000)
Private: 10 percent (2.3 million)
Other: 3 percent (700,000)
No dental coverage: 84 percent (19.6 million)

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