If you care about accessible, high-quality, and equitable oral health care, taking action can make a significant difference for your community, your state, and our country. You can play a vital role in educating community leaders, members of your networks, and policymakers at all levels of government about issues that are critical to individuals’ oral and overall health. From sharing a story on how a health care issue affects you, to meeting with your legislators, there are many ways to get involved. The resources on this page will help you speak up for your community’s and state’s needs in order to drive the change that is needed for everyone to have any equitable chance to be healthy and thrive.
National Survey Finds Broad, Bipartisan Support for Medicare Dental Coverage
Americans across the political spectrum are ready for Medicare dental coverage. A new YouGov survey found an overwhelming majority of likely midterm voters — including 82% of voters in 2022 Senate battleground states — favor adding dental benefits to Medicare.
The YouGov poll was conducted on July 6-13, 2021 among a representative sample of 1,000 likely 2022 midterm voters nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 3.47%. The poll was commissioned by CareQuest Institute, Families USA, and OPEN, a group of organizations dedicated to strengthening access to the oral health coverage needed to keep Americans healthy.
Examples of OPEN in Action
In December 2020, OPEN members created an organizational sign-on letter that was sent on December 16th to President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, and their transition team members. The letter shares policy recommendations and a call to leadership in support of oral health and ending oral health inequities. The Network, through the efforts of its Policy Network Response Team, secured 134 signatures from National, State, Local, Tribal and Education organizations.
Click here to download and read a copy of the letter.
Here are the asks made of the incoming administration:
Immediate, administrative actions
- Extend Medicare coverage to medically necessary oral health care
- Expand the dental workforce
Legislative priorities
- Integrate dental coverage into Medicare Part B
- Engage oral health providers to fight COVID-19 while increasing access to pandemic-era care
- Preserve dental coverage for people who rely on Medicaid
- Secure comprehensive, affordable oral health coverage for all
Resources
Day of Action Participant Guide
OPEN 2019 Hill Day Advocacy Toolkit
About OPEN handout
Hill Day Fact Sheet
Policy Asks
Maternal and Infact Health Fact Sheet
Participant Packet
Congressional Engagement Matrix
Interested in joining OPEN’s Policy Network Response Team? Send us an email.