Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) www.sanders.senate.gov (S 570) and Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) http://cummings.house.gov (HR 1055) each have introduced similar legislation to dramatically improve access to oral health for vulnerable and underserved populations www.congress.gov.
The legislation would expand dental coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, filling the gap for more than the one in four Americans who lack dental insurance. The bills would expand coverage, create new access points, build up the workforce, improve education, and provide funds for new research.
Several grant programs through HRSA www.hrsa.gov would be initiated to provide emergency room care coordination so that individuals would be able to receive dental care in clinics rather than in emergency room settings.
Grants would go to Federally Qualified Health Centers, rural health clinics, private dental practices, or any other public or private sector healthcare provider or organization such as a dental school or a hospital or urgent care center able to provide coordinated cost effective care.
One of the strategies suggested in the Senate and House bills to increase the number or oral health professionals would be to create new demonstration programs to train alternative dental healthcare providers for the VA www.va.gov, Department of Defense (DOD) www.defense.gov, Bureau of Prisons (BOP) www.bop.gov, the Indian Health Service (IHS) www.ihs.gov to help people living in rural and other underserved communities.
The bills also would enable alternative dental healthcare providers and other dental care providers who are licensed to provide dental services. The bills propose to administer dental services plus use telehealth-enabled collaboration and supervision when appropriate and feasible to serve the VA, DOD, BOP, and IHS.
The bills authorize additional funding to educate current and future oral healthcare providers to better serve vulnerable populations and to integrate oral healthcare into overall healthcare. The bills also require dental schools that are accepting any federal funding must meet specific criteria designed to prepare students to meet the needs of underserved populations.