Medicare Dental Benefit Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill would add dental and oral health services, cleanings, exams, fillings, root canals, dentures, and emergency care, as a new covered benefit under Medicare Part B, which currently excludes most dental work.
• For most beneficiaries, Medicare's payment share starts at zero percent and grows by 10 percentage points each year until it reaches 80 percent in the eighth year.
• Beneficiaries who qualify for Medicare's low-income Extra Help subsidy would get 80 percent coverage immediately, skipping the long phase-in that applies to everyone else.
• The benefit comes with usage limits: only two cleanings and two exams per year, and only one set of upper and lower dentures every five years, though the Secretary can waive these limits case by case.
• States would receive 100 percent federal funding, instead of their usual matching rate, for Medicaid spending tied to covering dental cost-sharing for low-income dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries.
• The bill also requires the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which sets national guidelines for preventive care, to include at least one oral health professional starting in 2028.