To the editor:

Dental and vision care are needed for the handicapped. The only dental services an adult handicapped person with a state Medicaid card can receive are X-rays and the extraction of teeth; there is no provision for eye exams or glasses as needed.

I think the handicapped deserve better than this. The teeth and eyes are part of the body, too. A yearly eye exam with dental exams twice a year and cleanings twice a year isn’t too much to ask. Glasses every 2-4 years, as needed, could be given too. It’s just maintenance. We are not a Third World country.

We can give money to Africa for AIDS, to Iraq for schools and hospitals, and do surgery to separate twins from India. Meanwhile our own sit here with no vision nor dental services. This is not right!

I’d like the Journal-World to publish the candidates’ views on vision and dental services for the handicapped. This is important to a lot of us and then we can vote accordingly. It’s a reasonable, humanitarian bill that needs to be done as soon as possible.

Mary Ann Kieffer,

Lawrence