Your dental and vision care are essential to maintaining your quality of life and daily functioning. Going to see the dentist or eye doctor without insurance can be expensive. Original Medicare, unfortunately, does not cover routine teeth or eye care. To find this coverage, you will need a Medicare Advantage plan or supplemental plan.
Medicare does not cover a number of services, even for those your previous health insurance readily covered. This includes routine dental and vision care. Medicare will not pay for your exams, your glasses, contact lenses, checkups, x-rays, dentures, cleanings, or anything beyond surgical procedures.
What doesn’t Medicare cover? Medicare does not cover a number of things that aren’t preventive, medically necessary, or involved in inpatient care in a hospital, mental health facility or skilled nursing facility.
Medicare Part A is hospital insurance, covering care as an inpatient in a hospital or skilled nursing facility. Care is divided into benefit periods, which are the times between being admitted as an inpatient in a hospital or skilled nursing facility and the time after which you have not received inpatient care for 60 days. You pay a deductible for each benefit period and daily coinsurance after you have been an inpatient for a certain number of days.
Medicare Part B is medical insurance, covering preventive services and medically necessary care. That means your flu shots, vaccinations, mammograms, pap smears, screenings and more are covered as preventive care. Think of Part B as outpatient care. You pay copayments for each visit until you reach your deductible.
Medicare does not cover routine hearing or podiatry care. Your hearing exams, unless a hearing and balance test have been ordered as a diagnostic test by your physician, are not covered, nor are your hearing aids or fittings. Routine podiatry care is not covered except for people with diabetes who have nerve damage.
Medicare also does not cover chiropractic care, acupuncture or cosmetic procedures. These are not considered medically necessary, so they are not covered services under Part A or Part B. You can check on Medicare’s website to see if your item, test or service will be covered before you have the procedure. It’s best to know whether or not something will be covered so you can prepare financially before going.
Those gaps in coverage can be filled by benefits from plans other than Original Medicare Part A and Part B. Some Medicare Advantage plans offer these as additional benefits which you can purchase for a larger premium every month.
If you want to stick with Original Medicare and add this coverage as a separate plan, you can find an individual or family dental or vision plan. Some insurance companies offer combined plans for dental and vision coverage.
If you want to have dental and vision coverage, the team at Jones Insurance Group can help you find the right dental and vision coverage that fits your budget and your health care needs.
