In the News

In a landmark hearing before the Senate HELP Committee, led by Chairman Bernie Sanders and ranking member Bill Cassidy, oral health stakeholders and dental professionals delivered compelling testimony on the staggering disparities in dental care accessibility and affordability across America. Speakers, which included Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD, MBA, president, and CEO of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health.

This bill is cosponsored by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, and is endorsed by Families USA, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, and Community Catalyst. To learn more about the bill, the HELP Committee, or to read the legislation, visit here.

The numbers are staggering: nearly 69 million United States adults lacked dental insurance or access to routine oral health care last year, according to a survey by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. This issue has been exacerbated by the rollback of Medicaid expansions post-COVID-19.

The deficit in dental coverage is immense: nearly 69 million U.S. adults did not have dental insurance or access to routine oral health care last year, according to a survey by the nonprofit CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Millions more lost dental insurance last year when states began to unwind Medicaid coverage for people who signed up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"According to a new study from CareQuest and the American Institute of Dental Public Health, of the more than 9 million veterans who are eligible for medical care from the VA, 85% are not eligible for dental coverage."

“'That was a moment of reckoning for me. It was unacceptable that a preventable disease was impacting our children in this way. This experience is what ultimately led me to my work at CareQuest Institute,” Minter-Jordan said."

"Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, president and CEO of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health in Boston, told the panel that traditional Medicare’s exclusion of dental benefits leaves about “half of Medicare enrollees, nearly 25 million older Americans and people with disabilities, without dental benefits.”'

Gary Harbison, Executive Director of the Missouri Oral Health Coalition, talks with KMOX Radio about the 224,063 people who lost dental coverage due to the Medicaid unwinding in 2023 in Missouri.

"Oral and mental health ailments have been well-researched, correlated, and understood within American healthcare for decades, yet 85% of the approximately 9 million American veterans do not have dental or oral health coverage through the VA."

"More current and prospective patients, especially younger ones, expect a virtual encounter option from all of their healthcare providers. Moreover, according to a recent survey conducted by CareQuest Institute, 86% of patients were satisfied with their teledental experiences and would recommend teledentistry."