Budget would kill dental benefits

As the state faces challenging economic times, the Massachusetts Senate Ways & Means Committee has proposed removing adult dental benefits from Commonwealth Care and MassHealth.

[A concerned citizen]

Defeat of this proposal cannot be stressed enough.

Mr. Joffe-Halpern addresses a critical need of all state residents. Many employers do not include a dental insurance plan within their own group medical plans. The Obama universal health-care proposals also need to recognize and address the importance of dental insurance as a holistic approach to preventive healthcare.

Commonwealth Care and MassHealth are providing a very important benefit. Thank you, Mr. Joffe-Halpern for listing some of the supportive research here and let's all get on the bandwagon and notify our state reps that they dare not cut the dental-care programs! We will all suffer from this in the long run.

[Chip Joffe-Halpern]

Late last night, after this letter was written, the state Senate reinstated dental benefits for MassHealth and Commonwealth Care members. I appreciate the efforts ofthe Senate.