Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night released the $849 billion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, his chamber's health reform package, revealing a measure chock full of provisions to improve oral health.  The inclusion of key oral health initiatives, particularly in the areas of prevention and public health, demonstrates that the U.S. Senate fully recognizes the need to integrate oral health into overall health.  The Senate is expected to take a series of procedural votes on Saturday and Sunday in an attempt to bring the measure to the floor for a vote.  Following that activity, it is expected that the Senate Clerk will be required to read the text of the more than 2,000-page bill before a vote takes place-which would push the vote off until after the Thanksgiving holiday.  The text of the Senate bill is available online at: http://democrats.senate.gov/

CDHP is in the midst of conducting a thorough analysis of the legislation; however, an initial review reveals several gems that oral health advocates can celebrate.  Specifically, the bill includes a mandatory oral health benefit for children who are covered under the health benefits exchange and makes children eligible for preventive oral health services without making a co-payment.  The bill further adopts language authored by Senator Bingaman of New Mexico to fully integrate oral health into public health through an education campaign, enhancement of community water fluoridation and school-based dental sealants programs, promotion of carries disease management, and expansion of CDC surveillance from 16 to 50 states, among other measures.  The bill also takes significant strides to enhance the oral health workforce, through the reauthorization of Title VII measures to support training and student loan repayment, the establishment of a public health services track, and the creation of a demonstration project to test alternative dental providers.  Stay tuned for more information on the oral health provisions in the Senate health reform bill as CDHP's review continues.

If you have any questions regarding the bill, feel free to contact CDHP's Danielle Grote Erbele.

In light of these victories, now is an ideal time to weigh in with your Senators and thank them for their commitment to oral health.  Senators can be reached in their Washington, D.C. offices this week, and will return to their home districts next week for the Thanksgiving holiday.  To contact your Senator, call the U.S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 or go to the web site of the U.S. Senate (www.senate.gov).