To respond to your earlier post:
“Do you think that the Republicans and Democrats in congress can come together and figure out a plan with the Insurance companies that will make dental coverage affordable?”
No, I don’t think so. As you mentioned earlier it’ll probably cost in the tens of billions of Dollars to come up with something. The Democrats would want it to come as a new tax to the makers while the Republicans would want it to come from the entitlements given to the takers. (By takers I’m referring to people who are able to get a job but choose not to. I’m SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDING those who can not support themselves due a mental or physical handicap as well as those who are temporarily down on their luck.) Besides- the politicians on either side can’t seem to work with the politicians on the other side.
“Does it make sense that Americans should need to travel to Hungary when they need dental care since they are paying out of pocket even with good dental coverage?”
No, it doesn’t make sense. I think you should go ahead and become a dentist and charge the same amount that Hungarian dentists charge- then you’ll see why the dentists here need to charge so much more. Or better yet- why don’t you open an insurance company that has affordable rates for quality dental care and then you’ll see why it’s not feasible.
“Can congress do something to help Americans or is the Insurance lobby too strong ?”
The math just doesn’t work out. Insurance companies make their money by taking premiums from people and assuming their risk. If the risk is known in advance (or the bulk of the risk is known) the premiums are going to rise to the point that it almost equals the cost of the visits. Many expensive dental procedures don’t have to be done immediately (I.e. getting wisdom teeth pulled or getting braces) and the person can push it off until they get dental insurance and then cancel the policy after the services were provided.