Senate Bill Would Add Dental, Hearing, and Vision Benefits to Medicare
A senate committee must act next: committee consideration.
No action since March 2025
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Dental offices, hearing aid providers, optometrists, and eyeglass retailers would gain millions of new potential patients with insurance coverage. The bill creates a new fee schedule for dental services and establishes payment rates for hearing aids and eyeglasses. Rural providers would receive a 10% bonus payment, which could help sustain small dental and hearing practices in underserved areas.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Lloyd Doggett introduced bicameral legislation to expand Medicare to include dental, hearing, and vision care. The bill covers dentures starting in 2026, with comprehensive dental, vision, and hearing services beginning in 2027 for 68 million seniors.
Sen. Bernie Sanders released the Medicare Dental, Hearing and Vision Expansion Act on the Senate floor. The bill aims to improve traditional Medicare by adding essential services that are currently excluded, ensuring enrollees can access dentures, hearing aids, and eyeglasses.
As CMS proposes 2027 payment rates for Medicare Advantage, the focus shifts to the 'enhanced benefits' like dental, vision, and hearing that often drive enrollment. Traditional Medicare's lack of these benefits remains a key point of contention in the debate over program costs.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Medicare Dental, Hearing, and Vision Expansion Act of 2025
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