Durbin Delivers Senate Floor Speech On New Bipartisan Legislation To Support Dental Care

Floor Speech

"Last week, we received remarkable news about a milestone in Americans' health care. A record 20 million Americans are now covered by health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. This is a sign of progress as we improve the quality of life and health care protections under President Biden. Having quality, affordable health care coverage means having peace of mind if you get a diagnosis or an accident or if you needed access care and you're facing medical debt. I know this story. I've been there. I was a law student at Georgetown when my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our first child, a baby girl born with a serious medical condition. As a young father without insurance, I can tell you there's no greater feeling of helplessness. That is why Democrats have been committed to expanding health insurance to millions of more Americans and ensuring it contains protections for patients with preexisting conditions.

I spent the August recess last year visiting small towns in Southern Illinois. I met with the new mayor of Carbondale, Illinois… She said, "Senator, we just don't have enough dentists for kids in Southern Illinois. What's the consequence of having a shortage of dentists? Patients' conditions worsen as they face delays to get necessary care.

My office was recently contacted about a child in Southern Illinois who was found to have tooth decay in her 18-month checkup. The patient is covered by Medicaid, and her parents had a hard time finding a dentist who would even see her… After nearly a year, the patient was finally treated for severe tooth decay, erosion of the upper incisor teeth, and a large tooth abscess. But her condition did not improve after multiple rounds of antibiotics, so her dentist called around to find a specialist to see her.

They were told by the specialist, "Unfortunately, we have over 200 patients on our waiting list, so we really cannot help her. This child is going to have to develop a much worse condition known as facial cellulitis, then she can get sent to an emergency room and we can see her. Her dentist called a specialist in a neighboring state. Thankfully, they were able to perform emergency surgery to remove the decayed teeth, but not before risking life-threatening illnesses… That is unacceptable.

Thankfully there's a federal program that can help, the National Health Service Corps. It provides scholarship and loan repayment to dental, medical, and mental health care providers who work rural and urban areas of need. It is the primary federal program intended to build the pipeline of health care providers and address shortages… But $310 million in mandatory funding for this program will expire at the end of this month. Senator Marco Rubio and I have a bipartisan measure to extend this program and nearly triple its funding.

Today, I'm announcing a new bill that I'm introducing with Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas. Our bipartisan legislation will authorize funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to enhance public health activities improving dental care across America. It will support education, data collection, sealant treatments in school, water fluoridation efforts, development of dental workforce, and community outreach such as the distribution of tooth brushes to new parents and children. Illinois has not received funding for this important work in nearly 20 years. I want to change that.

If we want to improve the health of Americans, especially kids, then we must invest in preventing cavities, tooth decay, and infections. We also must ensure that patients have access to treatment, regardless of their ZIP code."

Source