Why aren’t vision and dental covered under regular medical insurance?
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When it comes to U.S. health insurance, think history, not design. The current system isn’t a single designed system so much as a patchwork of overlapping fixes.
In this case, dentistry has a peculiarly separate history from medicine. It may seem weird, but remember that barbers and surgeons used to share a discipline, and that many countries treat medicine and surgery as different fields. Likewise, opticians aren’t medical doctors.
Also, remember that traditional health insurance was like any other kind of insurance: It protected you against big unforeseen catastrophes, not regular stuff. If you suddenly ended up in the hospital, it would save you from bankruptcy. It wouldn’t do anything for your regular checkup, which was totally foreseeable and affordable. So, why would it cover regular dental checkups (which everyone needs) or a new set of glasses? These were as much your responsibility as buying groceries, paying the plumber, or getting a new pair of shoes.
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