Medicare
Dental, Vision & Hearing
The three things Medicare was never designed to cover.
Original Medicare covers almost no routine dental, vision or hearing care. Not cleanings, not glasses, not hearing aids. For most people this is the first genuine surprise after enrolling.
There are two ways to cover it: an Advantage plan that bundles benefits in, or a standalone dental and vision policy alongside Original Medicare. The bundled benefits vary enormously — an annual maximum that sounds generous in a brochure can be modest against the cost of real dental work.
What Original Medicare covers of these three
Almost none of it, and that is by design rather than oversight.
The narrow band is the exceptions — an eye exam tied to a medical condition, a hearing test a doctor orders, oral surgery that is really surgery. Routine cleanings, glasses and hearing aids sit in the wide part.
This is probably you if…
- You are assuming Medicare covers your cleanings — it does not
- You are weighing an Advantage plan largely for its dental benefit
- You need significant dental work and want to know what is actually covered
- You wear hearing aids, or expect to
What this includes
The scope of work, in plain terms.
Bundled versus standalone
What an Advantage plan's dental benefit really pays, next to what a separate policy costs and covers.
Reading the annual maximum
The headline benefit and the annual cap are different numbers, and the cap is the one that decides what you get.
Waiting periods
Major work is frequently subject to a waiting period. Worth knowing before you need the work, not after.
Your dentist's network
Checked the same way we check your physicians — before you enrol.
Want to know what your dental benefit would actually pay?
Alan Trotsky
Alan Trotsky has been a financial professional for over 40 years. Prior to entering the insurance industry, Alan worked as a CPA serving clients with tax and financial planning. He also has experience providing consulting services to numerous businesses in various industries.
What to expect
- 01 A conversation What coverage you have now, whether you are still working, and when your window opens. Nothing to prepare and nothing to sign.
- 02 Your doctors and your prescriptions We check your prescriptions and your doctors against the plans available where you live. This is the step most people skip and most regret skipping.
- 03 Options side by side You see the real trade-offs between the paths open to you, including the ones that are hard to reverse later. Then you decide.
- 04 Every fall, we look again Plans change their formularies and networks each year. We review yours before the December deadline, whether or not anything changes.
Talk it through with Alan
True wealth is more than money.
Start with a conversation. No cost, no pressure, no obligation to continue.
