S. 1522: Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2013
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S. 1522: Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2013
113th Congress · introduced 2013-09-18 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2013-09-18 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2013
Plain summary
Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2012 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to cover dental services. Increases the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for funding under Medicaid for dental services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to maintain a database containing information on each state regarding dental benefits available for adults enrolled in the state Medicaid program. Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish, revise, and extend funding for grant programs for: (1) educating nondental medical and other professionals about oral health care; (2) providing dental services in hospital emergency rooms or in community settings; (3) providing scholarships and education loans for dental therapists and oral health professional students; (4) providing comprehensive oral health services to low-income individuals and individuals in underserved areas; (5) building, operating, or expanding dental clinics in schools; (6) funding research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent and manage oral health diseases; and (7) providing rural health clinics with mobile and portable, comprehensive dental services, including dentures, and outreach for senior-care facilities and facilities that provide federal health care and nutrition benefits for women and children. Authorizes appropriations for community based dental residencies. Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to declare oral health services to be an essential health benefit. Removes restrictions on the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide dental care to veterans (thereby requiring such care on the same basis as other VA-provided medical care and services). Authorizes the VA to carry out a demonstration program to train and employ alternative dental health care providers in order to increase access to dental health care services for veterans in rural and other underserved communities. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to carry out a similar demonstration program to train and employ such providers in order to increase access to those dental services for members of the Armed Forces and their dependents who lack ready access to such services. Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to carry out a demonstration program to establish programs to train and employ alternative dental health care providers to increase access to dental health services for prisoners within the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. Allows dental services provided under the demonstration program to be administered by alternative dental health care providers and any other dental care providers who are licensed to provided clinical care, through telehealth-enabled collaboration and supervision. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS, through the Indian Health Service (IHS), to carry out a demonstration program to establish programs to train and employ alternative dental health care providers to help eliminate oral health disparities and increase access to dental services through health programs operated by the IHS, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations. Allows dental services provided under the demonstration program to be administered by alternative dental health care providers and any other dental care providers licensed to provided clinical care, through telehealth-enabled collaboration and supervision. Directs the Secretary of HHS to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the expansion of dental service coverage pursuant to this Act, including whether it resulted in a reduction in total health care costs for individuals under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of: (1) the implementation and utilization of expanded dental service coverage under this Act for individuals enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, and (2) the demonstration programs authorized by this Act for the training and employment of alternative dental health care providers.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2013
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] · 1 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] reported raising $26.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (3)
- Appropriation
- Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113s1522.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/s>
Record fed-us-cong113-s1522 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113