Illinois retired teachers and no dental coverage from Medicare or from TRAIL, the state retirement healthcare program by Fred Klonsky

 

...I was at Northwestern Memorial Hospital yesterday getting my hearing aids fixed. Again. It’s like a monthly thing. Why is hearing aid technology so shitty?

It seems like a good thing that hearing aids for moderate hearing loss can now be purchased over the counter although I have questions about it. But my hearing loss is more severe and requires prescription hearing aids which are not covered by Medicare.

Neither is dental or vision.

It was interesting attending the informational meeting on Thursday. The Chicago meeting took place at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker and was held by Illinois Central Management Services and our new insurance carrier, Aetna/CVS.

Luckily the power point included open captioning because I couldn’t really hear what the speakers were saying and many of the power point slides were in a font too small for me to read. It is a bad sign when the speaker acknowledges this and says, “I’m sorry that some of this may be too small to read.”

Don’t use a power point slide that is too small to read.

Don’t use a font size that is smaller than the oldest person in the room.

Our new Aetna Medicare Advantage coverage like our old United Healthcare Medicare Advantage coverage does not include dental insurance. Neither does Original Medicare.

Some Illinois state retired employees have dental coverage as part of their retiree health insurance, Total Retired Advantage Illinois (TRAIL). Not retired teachers.

In case you missed it. Not retired teachers. According to the Medicare Rights Center:

Medicare does not cover dental services that you need primarily for the health of your teeth, including but not limited to:

·       Routine checkups

·       Cleanings

·       Fillings

·       Dentures (complete or partial/bridge)

·       Tooth extractions (having your teeth pulled) in most cases

 

While Medicare does not pay for dental care needed primarily for the health of your teeth, it does offer very limited coverage for dental care needed to protect your general health, or for dental care needed in order for another Medicare-covered health service to be successful. For instance, Medicare may cover:

·       An oral examination in the hospital before a kidney transplant

·       An oral examination in a rural clinic or Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) before a heart valve replacement

·       Dental services needed for radiation treatment for certain jaw-related diseases (like oral cancer)

·       Ridge reconstruction (reconstruction of part of the jaw) performed when a facial tumor is removed

·       Surgery to treat fractures of the jaw or face

·       Dental splints and wiring needed after jaw surgery

It is important to know that while Medicare may cover these initial dental services, Medicare will not pay for any follow-up dental care after the underlying health condition has been treated. For example, if you were in a car accident and needed a tooth extraction as part of surgery to repair a facial injury, Medicare may cover your tooth extraction—but it will not pay for any other dental care you may need later because you had the tooth removed.  

-Fred Klonsky