Insights Column

10 Health Advocacy Highlights from the 2016 Legislative Sessions

Despite a divided Congress in Washington, many state policymakers around the country, supported by advocates, reached across the aisle to make needed improvements to the health care system. Governo...

Health and Health Care in the 2017 State Legislatures: Opportunities, Threats, and What to Expect in 2018

2017 has been an eventful year for health and health care legislation in the states. Despite the challenges critical health programs face at the federal level, states have continued to move forward to...

Health Coverage Still Tough To Get For Individuals

A recent report released by Commonwealth Fund, a health care advocacy group, found that nearly three-quarters of Americans who tried to buy insurance on the individual market in the last three years ...

Public Supports Better Insurance Coverage for Dental Care, Survey Finds

Mouths matter—that is the finding in a national survey on public support for dental coverage. More than 80 percent of people who were asked said they supported providing publicly-funded dental ca...

In Cynical Move, Kentucky Governor Bevin Cuts Vision and Dental Care to Retaliate Against Court’s Medicaid Ruling

Suppose you wanted to help a homeless veteran find a job, but the vet had some sore teeth and needed glasses. Wouldn’t it make sense to cover the oral health and vision care to help him? That won...

Federal Government Could Make Children’s Oral Health Insurance More Affordable

Oral health care is vital to a child’s overall health. This summer, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed a change in the rules for financial assistance in the health insurance marketplace that, if...

Repeal and Replace Could Reverse Progress on Oral Health

Former U.S. surgeon generals refer to oral disease as a “silent epidemic” affecting some of our most vulnerable citizens. People who lack coverage for oral health care are likely to forego prev...

Medicare Should Pay for Oral Health Care That Is Necessary to Manage Serious Illnesses

Oral health is an important part of overall health for everyone – but it can be crucially important to someone who is fighting a serious condition, such as kidney failure, an autoimmune disease, can...

Oral Health Coverage Boosted in Some State Budgets, Lessons for 2018

This year, several states passed budgets that expand oral health coverage for adults in Medicaid. Expanding this coverage goes a long way to improving overall health, making oral health care more ac...

Oral Health Lands on Advocates’ Agendas Across the Nation

Even as health care has become a politically charged issue this year, we’ve seen oral health advocates work diligently and some states make progress to improve oral health benefits in their Medicaid...