Medicare Dental, Hearing, and Vision Expansion Act of 2025
Key claim: The bill would expand Medicare to cover dental and oral health services, hearing aids and related services, and vision services including routine eye exams and eyeglasses, with CMS fee schedules and a three-year premium phase-in starting in 2028.
Abstract
(S939 · 119th Congress) Medicare Dental, Hearing, and Vision Expansion Act of 2025 This bill provides for coverage of dental, hearing, and vision care under Medicare. Specifically, the bill provides for coverage of dental and oral health services, including cleanings, treatments, and dentures; hearing aids and related services, including aural rehabilitation services; and vision services, including routine eye exams and eyeglasses. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must set a fee schedule for dental and oral health services based on the national median fees for similar services, and it must phase in adjustments to premiums for Medicare medical services to account for coverage of dental and oral health services over a three-year period beginning in 2028. Payment to providers of hearing aid services must be made on an assignment-related basis; payment to providers of vision services must be made under the physician fee schedule. The bill provides funds for FY2025 for the CMS to implement the bill’s changes. Latest action (2025-03-11): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Why this matters
Dental, hearing, and vision services are among the largest coverage gaps in traditional Medicare, and beneficiaries currently pay out-of-pocket or rely on Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits for them. A statutory expansion via CMS fee schedules would change what beneficiaries pay and what providers can bill, and the 2028 premium phase-in signals how the cost would be spread across enrollees. The proposal joins several narrower bills targeting these gaps individually.