Failing the eye test

Failing the eye test

San Jose Mercury News: A major health care reform promise by President Barack Obama is in danger of going down the drain without so much as a whimper from the White House.

Obama has said repeatedly that the government “is not going to make you change plans or your doctor under health reform.” But unless he or the Senate forces a change in legislation the House passed earlier this month, the parents of 40 million to 50 million children throughout the United States will see a disruption in the way their dental and vision benefits are administered — with little or no cost-benefit to the federal government.

A relatively obscure provision of the House bill would not impact adults, but it would force parents to buy children’s dental and vision insurance from medical insurers. That would mean the nearly 300,000 children in Santa Clara County who are insured through specialty carriers such as Delta Dental or VSP would have to switch to a medical carrier that may or may not permit their children to see their own dentist or eye doctor.

Who benefits?

That may be good news for medical insurers, but it’s of no clear benefit to parents who use these services. General insurers haven’t done as good a job with dental and vision care, perhaps because the specialty carriers have done so well at filling the need.

The bill unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is better than the House plan, thanks to an amendment backed by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. The Senate bill allows families greater choice in the selection of dental plans, but it still would force parents to purchase vision care for their children from a medical carrier.