Debbie Stabenow was elected into the United States Senate in 2000; she is the United States Senator for Michigan. Due to her background in social work, Stabenow has made affordable healthcare her top priority while in office (Stabenow bio). Debbie is someone who is taking a great interest in the issue of dental health care. Creating affordable health insurance for small businesses, such as individually owned dental offices, has been one of the things she has been largely concentrated on. So far Sen. Stabenow has done a great deal of service to take part in letting families keep their family dentists as well as keep the dental policies they want (Stabenow, 3).
“There has to be a major reconstructing of how we fund health care and all that takes place is political will." - Debbie Stabenow
Dental care is one of the most important things when it comes to a person’s physical health. It is just as important if not more important than just regular health care itself. It has been found that having gum disease, for example, puts a person at risk for developing many other health issues such as heart and lung disease, diabetes, and giving birth to premature babies; just to name a few (NAPD par. 2). When 97% of dental policies are offered separate from medical policies, it poses a problem (NADP par. 1). This shows that dental healthcare has not been taken as seriously as medical healthcare and may be pushed aside when dealing with the new health policies.
A consequence of bad dental hygiene is a rise in cavities. Without the proper dental coverage, society would have no way of getting over this type of oral pain to begin to feel better. This could very well happen with 22.9 million children being removed from their parents’ existing dental coverage (NADP-SBLetter). The National Association of Dental Plans explains that children’s dental benefits may not be covered in the new Affordable Care Act.the (The Health Care Law and You par. 3). This will be an issue for those who wish to keep their family dentist covered by a separate policy. Involved in the question of children’s dental healthcare and how it will be implemented in current health reforms, we wonder why pediatric dentistry may not be included in these affordable plans and whether the children truly will be taken off their parents plans.
Debbie Stabenow has done a great deal toward the issue of pediatric dentistry with her amendment focusing solely on dental healthcare. This is called the Stabenow-Lincoln Amendment. The idea of the Stabenow-Lincoln Amendment is to reach that point that separate dental coverage will match the children’s dental benefits in the medical policies (Ireland par. 1). “The level of children’s dental coverage will determine if dental plans will need to supplement the coverage offered to parents” says Evelyn Ireland. This amendment focuses solely on stand –alone dental plans. The Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment explains that dental plans and dental practices should be chosen based on quality, price, and benefits as apposed to just price alone (NADP- SB Letter). The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is also involved in the Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment because of the small dental practice owners need to be able to provide insurance and benefits: health, dental, and vision to their employees. Currently, a huge challenge of this Amendment would be the fact that this has been an election year, stirring up many new problems concerning this issue when given a different perspective from different candidates (Burton par. 3). The ideal outcome of the Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment is that children as well as adults will gain access to affordable full dental coverage so they may obtain their dental services.
Everyone has those childhood memories of their parents taking them to the dentist for a cleaning at least once a year. Walking into the distinctly clean smelling office to sit in that big comfy recliner just staring at the empty ceiling while the friendly dentist would say “say ah” and look into your mouth. Receiving a shiny new toothbrush and always being reminded how to clean your teeth properly to keep away the cavities so you didn’t have to make an unpleasant next visit. Imagine if kids did not have the privilege of going to the dentist because they were not covered by their parents insurance to go in and get a check up. They would not get to experience any of this and would never learn to have proper dental hygiene. This is exactly what Debbie is trying to avoid with the Stabenow-Lincoln Amendment. Without this amendment, many dental, as well as overall health issues, could become more abundant. Debbie’s largest contribution toward affordable healthcare to this date would have to be her great influence on the Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment.
Besides the Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment, the Affordable Care Act is undoubtedly the main focus on healthcare in the United States today. Its main objective is to make health care easier to get for those who do not have it. It is assured that there will be more insurance choices for those with extreme illness or disabilities whom have been dropped by their providers. The act promises to give citizens a more affordable package, even better than what may have been acquired before. More tax benefits are going to be available for those with their own businesses. Lastly, Medicare is to be effected by providing cheaper prescriptions (The par. 4). Although, the issue with this is that those with different medical plans may have to make some changes with their coverage and even switch to different doctors.
So you may still be wondering, okay what about dental care, is that included in this new healthcare act? The answer is yes, dental care is involved in all the same ways as healthcare it is just not as extensively focused on (Burton par. 1). Still, even with this information it is clear that there must be more done to keep the object of dental hygiene present in politics. When it comes to politicians, they are showing that health care is definitely a huge problem the United States is facing right now, while these same politicians are not paying any attention to how this will be affecting the dental portion of healthcare (NADP par. 1). Debbie Stabenow has made a strong fight for dental healthcare in the United States to keep it an issue in senate discussions. She steps in to keep this fresh in society’s mind and make sure that the proper measures are taken toward improvement. Without Debbie there are not many of the other politicians who think this is such a big deal, leaving the issue of dental health care unlooked at and unchanged.
Recently Debbie has been addressing the same questions in people’s minds about healthcare as well as transferring those to cover dental care as well. Should there be free health care? Is that unfair to those who actually work hard for their benefits? How can things be improved to make the care more affordable? Can we still keep our current health coverage and doctors? These have all been questions in people’s minds concerning healthcare; even more so since Obama was elected president of the United States in 2008. Looking into these questions it is clear to see how integrated dental care actually is into health care. They go hand in hand.
With the idea of how involved dental care is in keeping a person’s overall health it is looked into how pediatric dentistry and its benefits being the same as the adults will be affected by the Affordable Care Act. Another thing to be considered would be the chance of small business employers being forced to alter their employee’s benefits. According to NADP 43.7 million small business employees will see this go into effect. This situation brings us back to precisely what the Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment is trying to avoid with the stand – alone dental policies. This working with the Affordable Care Act will make a solid step forward in accessible dental care. If Debbie Stabenow’s amendment is to not follow through this is one of the issues to be faced by millions.
Dental hygiene is widely underestimated by Americans today. Most can agree that they hate going to the dentist and even have a fear of the dental office. This makes it only obvious that dental care would be slightly overlooked by the population. Of course, the person who is in charge of the benefits in a family keeps a tighter look on things involving health and dental care, but they may just be going with what they are being told and not actually looking into what will happen in the future as more health care laws are carried out. It is extremely important that Americans keep a close look on how health and dental care laws are affecting them in order to insure fairness of the outcome. This is why overall Debbie Stabenow has been doing such an amazing thing getting involved in the things that people do not focus on so largely. She has made an impact in so many ways and I’m sure in the future will continue to do the same.
Not only has Debbie Stabenow given dental health care special attention throughout her time in office so far, she has also made adifference to many if only by making the Stabenow – Lincoln Amendment. She has made it simpler for those who are immensely involved in dental health care such as those working in private dental offices to understand how they will individually be affected by new health laws. Besides dental care Stabenow has been involved in many other aspects of health care involving dentistry. “ As part of the Affordable Care Act, she ensured that health centers would get immediate assistance to expand their operations and provide primary care services to up to 25 million Americans in need” (Stabenow-bio). Stabenow has also been recognized for her efforts to make prescription drugs more affordable to citizens (Stabenow bio).
With all the accomplishments we have seen from Senator Stabenow so far it is no wonder why she is such an important women to look to when considering dental and overall healthcare. Debbie Stabenow is an influence to many in the dental health field, especially in Michigan, and will continue her time in office gaining more experience in helping to make sure society gets the affordable dental care they deserve.