At last there is something we can all smile about. Good dental health does more than give people a healthy smile. Untreated dental conditions negatively affect a person’s overall health. Routine dental care is important for overall health and well-being. Sadly, many people on NH Medicaid lack access to routine preventive dental care. New Hampshire is one of only 10 states that provides only emergency dental benefits for adults, according to the American Dental Association. That means our state will cover a tooth extraction but none of the preventative care to avoid that extraction. That may be about to change.
In January, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of NH House members were smiling when they passed a bill that would extend dental benefits under the Medicaid managed care program to individuals 21 years of age and over. As many as 85,000 people could gain dental coverage under the measure. This is indeed something to smile about. The bill would actually save money because the Medicaid system incurs major expense in covering serious medical problems that arise from untreated dental disease. Given the positive impacts of this bill, both medically and economically, I am appalled that two of Bedford’s own state representative, Ted Gorski and Laurie Sanborn, voted against this bill which will bring increased dignity and decreased pain to tens of thousands. This bill will improve overall health and promote savings in the state’s Medicaid managed care program. Surely this is something to smile about!
Sue Holstein
Bedford