Medicare and Medicaid Dental, Vision, and Hearing Benefit Act of 2025
- senate
- house
- president
Last progress June 12, 2025 (5 months ago)
Introduced on June 12, 2025 by Angela Deneece Alsobrooks
Sponsors (5)
House Votes
Senate Votes
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Presidential Signature
AI Summary
This bill would add dental, vision, and hearing care to Medicare. It covers routine cleanings and exams, fillings and crowns, major dental work, emergency dental care, and dentures for dental; routine eye exams plus eyeglasses, contacts, and certain low-vision devices for vision; and routine hearing exams, hearing services, and hearing aids for hearing. The law lets Medicare set limits like how often you can get certain items and may require prior approval. Payments for these new benefits ramp up over time, reaching 80% by the eighth year after the program starts .
For Medicaid, the federal share would be raised to 90% for adult dental, vision, and hearing services, starting the first January that is at least six months after the law takes effect. Children under 21 are not included in this change because they already have required coverage for these services under existing rules .
| Key point | What it means |
|---|---|
| Who is affected | People on Medicare get new dental, vision, and hearing benefits; states get higher federal funding for adult Medicaid dental/vision/hearing services |
| What’s covered (examples) | Dental: cleanings, exams, fillings, crowns, major work, emergencies, dentures . Vision: routine eye exams, eyeglasses, contacts, low-vision devices . Hearing: exams, hearing services, hearing aids . |
| Limits | Dental cleanings and exams: up to two each per year . Eye exam: once a year; lenses every 12 months; frames every 24 months; contacts capped at $200 per 24 months (adjusted over time) . Hearing aids: one per ear every 48 months . The Secretary can add reasonable limits or prior authorization and adjust coverage based on expert recommendations . |
| When it starts | Services begin on January 1 of the first year that is at least six months after the law is enacted; Medicare payments for these items ramp up annually to 80% by year eight . |