II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3016 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve essential oral health 

care for low-income and other underserved individuals by breaking down 

barriers to care, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2018 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. SCOTT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve essential 

oral health care for low-income and other underserved 

individuals by breaking down barriers to care, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Action for Dental 

5 Health Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOLUNTEER DENTAL PROJECTS AND ACTION FOR 

2 DENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM. 

3 Section 317M of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 247b–14) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

6 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol8 lowing new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(e) ACTION FOR DENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Director of the Centers for Disease 

12 Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the 

13 Health Resources and Service Administration, may 

14 award grants to or enter into contracts with eligible 

15 entities to collaborate with State or local public offi16 cials and other stakeholders to develop and imple17 ment initiatives to— 

18 ‘‘(A) improve oral health education and 

19 dental disease prevention, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) through community-wide preven21 tion programs, such as programs that pro22 mote the use of dental sealants and fluo23 ride varnish; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) by increasing public awareness 

25 and education related to oral health and 

26 dental disease prevention; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) reduce barriers to the provision of 

2 dental services. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this subsection, the 

4 term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity that is— 

5 ‘‘(A) a State or local dental association; 

6 ‘‘(B) a State oral health program; 

7 ‘‘(C) a dental education, dental hygiene, or 

8 postdoctoral dental education program accred9 ited by the Commission on Dental Accredita10 tion; or 

11 ‘‘(D) a community-based organization 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(i) partners with an academic insti14 tution; 

15 ‘‘(ii) is exempt from tax under section 

16 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

17 1986; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) partners with public and private 

19 stakeholders to facilitate the provision of 

20 dental services for underserved popu21 lations.’’; and 

22 (3) in subsection (g), as redesignated by para23 graph (1), by striking ‘‘such sums as may be nec24 essary for each of the fiscal years 2001 through 


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1 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘$18,000,000 for each of the 

2 fiscal years 2018 through 2022’’. 

3 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS. 

4 Section 340G of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 256g) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)(5)— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(D) the establishment of dental homes for 

11 children and adults, including for the aged, 

12 blind, and disabled populations; 

13 ‘‘(E) the establishment of initiatives to re14 duce the use of emergency departments by indi15 viduals who seek dental services more appro16 priately delivered in a dental primary care set17 ting; and 

18 ‘‘(F) the provision of dental care to nurs19 ing home residents;’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘$25,000,000 

21 for the 5-fiscal year period beginning with fiscal year 

22 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘$13,903,000 for each of fiscal 

23 years 2018 through 2022’’. 

Æ 


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