Dental health affects medical health strongly, so why is it not fully insured?

if you have ever gone to a dentist, you will often see that the "coverages" of your insurance does not cover "__" "___" and especially "___"...there are always extra charges and many people I know avoid the dentist because they cannot afford care. It has been known since the early 70's that poor gum and teeth health can cause arterioschlerosis and extreme toxicity that causes heart disease...many of the people who have had heart attacks are also people who could not or did not maintain their "oral health"....

You can see a doctor for an agreeable fee and get taken care of at an affordable level, but honestly, get some dental work done and it can break you...why has not not ever changed?

I鈥檓 not sure there has been a consensus about the link between dental health and overall health until pretty recently. Not too long ago, Congress passed a Mental Health Parity Act that provides some equal treatment of mental health and general health. Specifically, it says that, with some notable exceptions, health plans have to provide the same annual and lifetime coverage maximums for mental health as they do for general medical coverage. I think that as the evidence mounts regarding the importance of dental health, the same thing will happen with dental insurance. Already, some health plans are starting to include dental and vision without raising the price of insurance much at all. The two plans that come to mind are 鈥淭onik鈥?by Blue Cross Blue Shield and 鈥淪ound鈥?from Unicare.

I agree though that affordable access to health care is just not possible for most people in the US.

Barnes@MostChoice
http://www.mostchoice.com/health-insuran...

It's because too many people abuse insurance with cosmetic and unnecessary services that they ruin it for everyone. It's not just dentists, it's chiropractors, acupunture, therapists, etc.

Insurance dictate to the doctors and patients what they ARE and ARE NOT willing to pay for, in terms of care provided. I agree that this is not 'fair' or even logical, but most companies who offer medical coverage differentiate between medical and dental care...you might try asking at work if they have additional plans which may offset this expense. It's been my experience that they NEVER cover everything anyway...sorry...

you make the assumption that most people see the dental coverage in this country as a nessecity, it is not a nesscity; it is still viewed as a luxury; the only REAL absolute necessity that congress has ORDERED insurance companies to contribute to is life and death medical issues; impacted molars do fall into that grp, and thats why you pay more and more.

i wish i knew. in the dental office we constantly scratch our heads puzzled why the ones in charge of insurance do not see the real need. perhaps they do and just ignor it as a way to cut costs.

i am sure it is all well thought out and calculated in the risks pro and cons meeting they probably have now and then.

in defense of some policies- there are some that are better than others. but sadly , not by much

It's because dental treatment tends to be very expensive. Often employers don't want to spend the money.