Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME)
are continuing their effort to strengthen dental care for the underserved. In
a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman, Feingold and
Collins called on the Administration to adequately fund the Collins-Feingold
Dental Health Improvement Act to strengthen the dental workforce in rural and
underserved communities. The Collins-Feingold legislation, which was
authorized in 2002, provides grants to states to help them develop innovative
programs tailored to the needs of the state. Maine received $110,000 through
the program in Fiscal Year 2006.
“As dental health continues to make great strides in this country, we have to
make sure that these new advances are reaching as many people as possible,”
Feingold said. “The federal budget must provide the necessary funding to
ensure low-income families, or people living in rural or underserved areas,
are getting access to dental care.”
“Oral health in America has improved dramatically over the last fifty years,
but these improvements have not occurred evenly across all sectors of our
population, particularly among low-income individuals and families,” said
Senator Collins. “This legislation provides support, flexibility, and a
commitment to dental scholarships and loan repayment programs that will help
attract more dentists to rural and underserved communities that are in
desperate need of their services.”
An estimated 25 million Americans live in areas lacking adequate dental
services and as many as 11 percent of our nation’s rural population has never
been to a dentist. With 20 percent of dentists nationwide set to retire in
the next ten years and not enough dental graduates to replace them, many
states face serious shortages in dental professionals. The grants approved by
the Collins-Feingold bill can help with loan forgiveness and repayment
programs, expand community-based dental facilities, enhance recruitment and
retention efforts, or fund other initiatives to help make dental services more
accessible.
A copy of the letter is available upon request.