Ranking Member Cassidy Delivers Remarks During Hearing on Dental Care

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today’s hearing on dental care in the United States.

Click here to watch the hearing live. 

Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:

Thank you, Chair Sanders.

We have spoken about access to quality health care, but there should also be a focus on access to quality dental care. The HELP Committee has spent a great deal of time examining health workforce shortages. Hopefully, we can translate this into legislation that can pass with broad bipartisan support.

That takes teamwork and cooperation, but it results in securing member priorities on both sides of the dais and the Americans they represent. And by the way, that makes it more likely to pass.

That is why, as I have said repeatedly, I ask the majority to make a greater effort to engage the minority in preparation and crafting of these hearings. If we want these hearings to act as a springboard for passing legislation, it is invaluable that our teams work together from the beginning to lay that groundwork.

Also, while I am interested in today’s hearing, there are other urgent issues impacting the lives of constituents that we should address.

I have requested for months that this committee hold a hearing on the disturbing antisemitism spreading on college campuses. Jewish students are being threatened and assaulted. No student should be afraid while attending school and or be a victim of bigotry.

So far, there’s been no commitment from the majority that we will exercise oversight over the response, or lack thereof, from universities and the Department of Education.

But we could also hold a hearing on the Biden administration's repeated blunders in rolling out the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA application. Many students may forgo college this year because without financial aid offers, they don’t know if they can afford it. The incompetent Biden administration bureaucrats who bungled this rollout aren’t facing any consequences, but the students are.

Last week, Chair Sanders and I, along with 9 other bipartisan Chairs and Ranking Members of the committees responsible for the Department of Education, sent a letter to the administration regarding our shared concern over this year’s failed rollout and the need to ensure next year’s FAFSA application goes better.

These issues should be bipartisan. We should have Secretary Cardona before this committee to examine them. We clearly have the time. For example, we didn’t have a hearing last week.

In fact, we are a year and a half into this Congress and we have not had a single hearing on the state of primary or secondary education. A significant portion of this committee’s jurisdiction.

I’ll stop there because I do not want to take away from discussing dental health.

When it comes to improving access to dental care, we must consider all factors that impact patient access.

Recent data shows that 88 percent of Americans have dental coverage.

Despite this, some have called for mandating dental coverage under Medicare and Medicaid.  Right now, approximately 98 percent of Medicare Advantage plans offer dental benefits. With more than half of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in an MA plan, that’s significant. In addition, states have the option to provide dental coverage to adult Medicaid enrollees.

These approaches ignore the fundamental reasons that many dental providers oppose more federal government intervention. They don’t want the significant red tape and bureaucracy that is causing issues in other areas of health care.

Independent medical practices are struggling to provide quality care with the often-low reimbursement rates and administrative burden from federal programs. Many have gone out of business. Mandating dental coverage would likely be similarly harmful for independent dental practices. And with Medicare on track for insolvency in little over a decade, perhaps we should make substantive sustainability reforms before adding more programs to it. 

Looking at the commercial market, the vast majority of patients in employer-sponsored plans have the option of dental coverage. Among employers offering health benefits in 2023, 90 percent of small firms and 94 percent of large firms offer dental insurance.

Patients using private insurance should be able to access coverage options that best suit their individual needs, and many of these individuals currently get dental coverage through a stand-alone dental plan. While major medical plans can offer dental benefits, stand-alone dental plans often provide the benefit of a lower deductible compared to the overall medical deductible. However, this year, the Biden administration issued regulations allowing states to require ACA plans to provide dental coverage. This doesn’t kick in until 2027, but will raise premiums in these already expensive and often unaffordable plans. Unless of course the taxpayer heavily subsidizes, which means the cost of the bill is stuck with you and all of us.

It’s important to note that more coverage does not guarantee access.  The promise of coverage is only an illusion of access if patients do not have dentists in their community.

That is why promoting a sufficient dental care workforce that serves patients where they live, including in rural and underserved areas is so important.

Senator Budd is the lead sponsor of the Action for Dental Health Act, which reauthorizes a grant program through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) helping states increase their oral health workforce and provide dental care, particularly in rural and underserved communities. I worked on this program before becoming Ranking Member and know firsthand how important it is.

The HELP Committee has dedicated four hearings to examine health workforce shortages and two markups this Congress. We have examined critical programs that support the dental workforce, including the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). It is important that we secure a long-term reauthorization that can pass Congress and be signed into law.

We also need to understand that with dentists, we don’t generally have a supply problem but a distribution problem, in particular for rural areas. Data from this year shows that we have 98 percent of general dentists and 99 percent of oral surgeons needed. However, when you assess where they are located, it is clear that rural areas are at a disadvantage. In non-metro areas, 63 percent of the need for general dentists and 44 percent of the need for oral surgeons is met. Understanding factors impacting the supply and distribution of dental providers is crucial before directing a solution. How can we get dentists to practice in rural areas?

Our work to address workforce shortages should continue to be top of mind for the HELP Committee, as there will be additional reauthorizations. This includes the Title VII Programs of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), which contains a number of important programs bolstering our dental workforce and access to care.

I look forward to the testimony today and learning more about how we can responsibly improve dental care for all Americans.

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