Facing Rising Dental Costs, Seniors head to Mexico

[n2doc]

LOS ALGODONES, Mexico (AP) -- Mark Bolzern traveled 3,700 miles to go to the dentist. The 56-year-old Anchorage, Alaska, native left home this spring, made a pit stop in Las Vegas to pick up a friend, and kept heading south, all the way to Los Algodones, Mexico, a small border town teeming with dental offices.

About 60 percent of Americans have dental insurance coverage, the highest it has been in decades. But even so, the nation's older population has been largely left behind. Nearly 70 percent of seniors are not insured, according to a study compiled by Oral Health America. A major reason is because dental care is not covered by Medicare and many employers no longer offer post-retirement health benefits. What's more, the Affordable Care Act allows enrollees to get dental coverage only if they purchase general health coverage first, which many seniors don't need. At the same time, seniors often require the most costly dental work, like crowns, implants and false teeth.

As a result, many are seeking cheaper care in places like Los Algodones, where Mexican dentists who speak English and sometimes accept U.S. insurance offer rock-bottom prices for everything from a cleaning to implants. Dentists in Los Algodones say a large portion of their clients are seniors.

In the desert outpost near the border of California and Arizona, men in white shirts stand outside of offices with signs advertising root canals and teeth cleanings. Other signs advertise prescription drugs like muscle relaxers at low rates - no prescription needed.

For Bolzern, seeing a dentist in Los Algodones meant a savings of up to $62,000. He was told the extensive dental work he needed - his teeth needed to be raised and he needed a crown on every molar - would cost $65,000 at a private dentist. He looked for lower rates, finding a dental school where the work was less expensive because it was performed by students. But it still cost $35,000.

He paid $3,000 in Mexico and has been back several times.

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[Texasgal]

1. My husband as a young boy

contracted HEP C in Mexico from dental work.

It's very sad that Americans are having to do this.

[Itchinjim]

2. Growing up, my dentist lived two houses away in our modest middle class neighborhood.

Today, my dentist lives in a million dollar plus house in a gated community.

Something has gone horribly wrong in the last fifty years.

[BadgerKid]

7. Multiple factors here

like unethical dentists and poor insurance reimbursement rates. The conservative, ethical general dentists have been disappearing because they can't afford to stay in business. On the other hand, specialized dentists make beaucoup money, just as medical specialty practitioners do.

[DustyJoe]

3. the senior population that needs it most gets zip

Medicare for all ??? I see this call all the time.

100.00 a month premium, $100.00 deductible, 20% co-pay, prescriptions under different plan D
then there's
the elder population who has the greatest need for glasses and dental must pay 100%, no coverage at all

Heck no to Medicare for all

How about Medicaid for all ?
0 premium, 0 deductible, 0 co-pay, 0 for prescriptions, 0 for dental, 0 for 1pr glasses a ye

[Zorra]

4. I have had dental work done in Algodones, and in other places in Mexico, and

all of it has been stunningly inexpensive, and highest quality at the same time.

You can get many procedures done in Mexico more inexpensively than you can get them done in the US even if you have dental insurance in the US.

[Skittles]

5. no thanks

[Kali]

6. pretty much the whole reason Algodones exists

[AndreaCG]

8. As of now my union still covers retirees dental care

In fact I can go now even though I'm on unpaid leave and won't retire till October. Which is good cause while I'm not in pain I do need a procedure

[dembotoz]

9. The lion killing dentist seems to prove this idea