[an error occurred while processing this directive] Press Release: - Cummings Introduces Children's Dental Bill
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Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2009

 Contact:
Jennifer Kohl
202.225.4289 or 202.225.4025
Trudy Perkins
410.685.9199 or 202.225.4641

Cummings Introduces Children’s Dental Bill
Proposed legislation would improve children’s access to dental care
Washington, DC—Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) introduced H.R. 462, the Medicaid-SCHIP Dental Benefits Improvement Act of 2009 to improve children’s access to dental care.
 
“Nearly two years ago, a 12-year-old boy from Maryland named Deamonte Driver died when an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain,” Congressman Cummings said. “Deamonte’s death exposed a huge chasm in our nation’s health coverage for children, and this legislation is critical in ensuring that we bring life from this young man’s death.”
 
The bill includes seven key provisions that Congressman Cummings is working to have included in the upcoming State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization, which is expected to be considered by the House of Representatives later this week. These provisions were included in the SCHIP reauthorization bill that Congress passed in 2007, which President Bush vetoed twice. The legislation would:
 
  • Guarantee a dental benefit for children covered by SCHIP that includes preventive, restorative, and emergency dental care.
  • Provide dental education for parents of newborns.
  • Allow community health centers to contract with private dentists for the purpose of providing dental care under Medicaid and SCHIP.
  • Require states to report the status of children’s oral health for children covered by Medicaid and SCHIP.
  • Improve access to dental provider information for Medicaid and SCHIP patients through the Insure Kids Now website (www.insurekidsnow.gov) and hotline (1-877-KIDS-NOW).
  • Require the GAO to conduct a study assessing children’s access to dental care within 18 months of the bill’s enactment.
  • Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a core set of child health quality measures for assessing states’ Medicaid and SCHIP programs, including measures for the availability of dental services and the quality of pediatric dental care.
“There is no excuse for what happened to Deamonte Driver, and the fault lies with every single one of us for letting him slip through the cracks,” Congressman Cummings said. “It is critical that we move forward and enact these common sense proposals to establish a safety net to catch all of the other Deamontes out there.”
 
Congressman Cummings is also working to pass legislation that would extend dental benefits to children who are eligible for SCHIP but have private medical insurance that does not include dental insurance. This critical provision would capture a significant amount of children without dental coverage while offering parents incentive to keep their children in private medical plans.
 
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