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March 24, 2022
CareQuest Institute for Oral Health announced a new analysis which has shown that older adults delayed dental care more than any other health care during the pandemic.
CareQuest Institute – a leading national nonprofit focused on creating a more accessible, equitable, and integrated oral health system – is reiterating its call for dental coverage to be added to Medicare, which would expand access to oral health for seniors and people with disabilities, improve health outcomes, and reduce the deep racial inequities that exist in our health system.
CareQuest Institute analyzed responses from three surveys of Medicare beneficiaries conducted by federal health officials.
It released several key findings from the analysis today, including:
- 1 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries (21%), or 13 million people, delayed some form of health care due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.
- Nearly 44% of those who delayed care, or 5.7 million people, put off dental care — a higher rate than any of the other seven types of care, including medical treatment, medical surgery, and vision or hearing services.
- Between the summer and fall of 2020, the likelihood of delaying dental care fell in white and Hispanic participants, while Black participants who delayed dental care increased from 36% to 45% in the same period.
Read the full article.