Medicare Dental Benefit Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill would add dental and oral health services to Medicare for the first time, covering everything from cleanings and exams to fillings, root canals, crowns, dentures and emergency dental care.
• Coverage for most beneficiaries would start at 0 percent payment from Medicare and grow by 10 percentage points each year until it reaches 80 percent after about eight years, while routine preventive care is covered as a standard preventive benefit sooner.
• Low-income beneficiaries who qualify for Medicare's prescription drug subsidy would get Medicare to pay 80 percent of their dental costs immediately, instead of waiting through the multi-year phase-in.
• The benefit comes with limits: only two cleanings and two exams are covered per year, and only one full set of dentures every five years, though the Secretary of Health and Human Services can waive these limits case by case.
• States would get full federal funding, instead of their usual matching share, for the Medicaid cost-sharing they cover on behalf of low-income dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries related to the new dental benefit.
• The new dental benefit would take effect for services furnished on or after January 1, 2028, and the bill also requires an oral health professional to be added to the federal task force that recommends preventive health services.