ACTION ALERT- Contact your state senator about Amendments 216 and 218 to the Senate Ways and Means Budget

11/16/20
See the action alert from Health Care for All, below, asking you to contact your state senator to ask for their support for Amendment #216, which would restore the MassHealth adult dental program and add coverage for root canals and crowns. 
 
Please also ask your state senator to support Amendment #218, sponsored by Senator Comerford, which would provide temporary relief from Medicaid estate recovery for surviving family members based on the practical difficulties created for them by the COVID-19 emergency. 
 
Click here to find the contact information for your state senator: https://malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator 
   
 
 
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Health Care For All <organizing@hcfama.org>
Date: Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 9:06 AM
Subject: ACTION ALERT: Ask your Senator to Support Amendment #216 (Comerford): MassHealth Dental Care
To: <ksymmonds@mlri.org>
 
 
Call to Action!
Take Action To Restore Full Coverage for MassHealth Adult Dental Services
Dear Kate, 
 
In 2010, state budget shortfalls resulted in the limiting of MassHealth adult dental coverage to only cleanings and extractions. This negatively impacted already underserved low income communities and communities of color that faced multiple barriers to accessing timely and affordable dental care. Over the past ten years, MassHealth coverage for adult dental services have been incrementally restored, including fillings, dentures, and treatment of gum disease. However, many low income residents still don't have access to needed root canals or crowns.
 
We have an opportunity now to restore full oral health coverage for adults enrolled in MassHealth. That's why State Senator Jo Comerford filed Amendment #216: MassHealth Dental Care.
 
This amendment would improve oral health by fully restoring the MassHealth adult dental program and adding coverage for root canal treatments (endodontics) and crowns (prosthodontics). These services allow injured or diseased teeth to be repaired instead of extracted. Good oral health is a critical component of a person's overall health and well-being, which has never been more important than during the pandemic. Without access and coverage of appropriate dental care, many people living with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension see their conditions worsenraising their risk level, and dental treatment becomes increasingly more invasive and costly the longer it is delayed.
 
Please call your State Senator by close of business on Monday, November 16, 2020 and ask your Senator to support passage of this important legislation.
 
* You can find your State Senator's name and phone number here.
 
Sample script:

Hi, my name is_____ and I live in _____.
 
I am calling Senator _____ to ask them to support  
Amendment #216, the MassHealth Dental Care amendment, filed by Senator Comerford. This amendment would improve oral health by fully restoring the MassHealth adult dental program and adding coverage of root canal treatments and crowns. 
 
(If you are told to send an email instead, say you will do that too but ask the receptionist to either speak directly to a staff person or leave a note for a staff person stating that you are calling "in favor of Amendment #216, the MassHealth Dental Care amendment, filed by Senator Comerford.)
 
Thank you for your support!
 
Chris Noble
Health Justice Community Organizer
Health Care For All
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