security and Id have a huge spenddown. So I get no dental and also no vision care. My eyes and teeth have serious issues, and places in my area have waiting lists and or funding issues. Vision and dental need to be part of Medicare. I agree. The government won't pay for cheap preventative work like cleanings and fillings but will foot the bill for expensive ER visits or even several days of hospitalization due to a life threatening abscess! Does anyone else think that the government creates so much red tape for someone to obtain medicaid or ssi in order to actually prevent access to benefits? One reason I'm wary of becoming a dentist is because I don't want to be greedy--I don't want to turn patients away because of insufficient funds. The Bible says that it's harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. What I guess I'm saying is that I'd rather be a teacher and make an honest living than be a rich dentist who can't sleep at night due to the guilt of only treating those that can pay for it. in response to CATLUV... I forgot to add that when we try to "spend less" we ultimately end up spending many times more to fix things. Another local example in my city was the construction of the new jail, they decided to spend less, cut corners and forego the