Please tell us how you, your family or your community has benefited from Medicaid coverage for dental care, vision care, and transportation assistance: I have a son who is physically handicapped. On occasions when he has been out of work he has depended on Medicaid. Much of my professional work has been with poor families whose resources are limited and dental care can be expensive. See next response.

Please tell us how eliminating these benefits would affect you, your family, or your community: Six years ago I had a grand mal seizure and nearly died due to a brain abscess. The condition required neurosurgery, a period in the ICU and several months of treatment with heavy duty anti-biotics. The most common cause of such conditions is a tooth infection. Avoiding dental care because of financial constraints is not an issue to take lightly.