S. 570: Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2015
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S. 570: Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2015
114th Congress · introduced 2015-02-25 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2015-02-25 · 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 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. 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 2015
Plain summary
Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2015 Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to cover oral health services. Increases the federal medical assistance percentage for oral health services, thereby increasing payments to states under Medicaid. Directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to maintain a database of dental benefits available to adult Medicaid enrollees in each state. Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish, revise, and extend funding for grant programs for: educating nondental professionals about oral health care; providing dental services in hospital emergency rooms or in community settings; providing scholarships and education loans for oral health professional students; providing oral health services to low-income and underserved individuals; building, operating, or expanding dental clinics in schools; and providing mobile, comprehensive dental services at locations that serve individuals who qualify for benefits under specified programs. Authorizes community based dental residencies. Authorizes specified agencies to conduct research on oral health issues through FY2019. Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to make oral health services an essential health benefit. Removes restrictions on the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide dental care to veterans (thereby requiring dental care on the same basis as other VA-provided medical care and services). Authorizes the VA, Department of Defense, Bureau of Prisons, and Indian Health Service to carry out demonstration programs to train and employ alternative dental health care providers in order to increase access to dental services. Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the expansion of dental service coverage pursuant to this Act. Directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the implementation and utilization of expanded dental service coverage under this Act and the demonstration programs authorized by this Act.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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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 2015
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] · 4 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 (2)
- 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-114s570.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>
Record fed-us-cong114-s570 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114