Too many senior citizens in New York state don’t have access to affordable dental care.

That fact makes it hard to disagree with legislation (A.11235/S.7594) introduced by Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright and Sen. Cordell Cleare that would require the NY State of Health Marketplace to require companies offering health insurance plans on the marketplace to also offer at least one dental plan for senior citizens. There are too many senior citizens paying out of pocket for dental care in New York state – and that means there are many who aren’t getting dental care at all because they can’t afford to pay out of pocket.

Medicaid, the federal and state health insurance program for the poor, requires states to provide dental coverage for children but not adults. But with a growing recognition of the economic and health costs of poor dental health and an influx of federal pandemic dollars, six states began or expanded their Medicaid programs this year to provide coverage for adults.

Cost will always be a concern because New York has approved dozens of bills over the years expanding insurance coverage to cover dozens of issues that hadn’t typically been covered by insurers in New York state. That’s one reason why a federal survey of employer-sponsored insurance showed New York businesses and consumers paid an average of $9,589 for single coverage in 2024, which was the highest in the country and $1,100 or 13% above the national average. New York was also No. 1 for employee-plus-one coverage, with an average cost of $19,431, and No. 5 for family coverage, at $27,188.

According to the Empire Center, in 2024 the Legislature passed and Governor Kathy Hochul signed laws requiring insurers to pay for prenatal vitamins, to cover the cost of scalp cooling (to prevent hair loss during cancer treatment), and to cap copayments for EpiPens (an emergency treatment for allergic reactions). The 2025 legislative session brought bills that would require insurers to cover creative arts therapy services, to cover speech therapy for stuttering, and to provide a minimum number of inhalers for asthma patients without cost-sharing.

These types of bills increase the costs of health care plans for consumers. We feel strongly that dental care for senior citizens should be made available, but availability doesn’t mean much if seniors who need dental care can’t afford any of the plans on the state’s health insurance marketplace. In our opinion, the legislature should approve the proposal by Seawright and Cleare as well as examine the add-on requirements the legislature has passed over the years with an eye toward lowering the cost of plans the state offers.