[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2371 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2371

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand and improve the 
    provision of pediatric dental services to medically underserved 
                  populations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2007

Mr. Cummings (for himself, Mr. Waxman, and Mr. Kucinich) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand and improve the 
    provision of pediatric dental services to medically underserved 
                  populations, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Deamonte's Law'' .

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 
        that tooth decay in baby teeth has increased 15 percent among 
        United States toddlers and preschoolers 2 to 5 years old, 
        between 1988 to 1994 and 1994 to 2004.
            (2) During the period of 1999 to 2004, 28 percent of young 
        children had experienced cavities.
            (3) Tooth decay is the single most common childhood chronic 
        disease, and it disproportionately affects poor and minority 
        children.
            (4) Eighty percent of dental decay occurs in just 25 
        percent of children.
            (5) Parents are 3 times more likely to report that their 
        children's dental needs are unmet, when compared with general 
        medical care needs.
            (6) While 9,000,000 of the children in this Nation do not 
        have medical insurance, more than twice that number--
        20,000,000--do not have dental insurance.
            (7) The Department of Health and Human Services estimates 
        that more than 31,000,000 people live in dental health provider 
        shortage areas, and 4,650 additional dentists would be needed 
        to meet the need that exists in those areas.
            (8) Health centers serve as the health care home for 
        16,000,000 individuals, including 5,200,000 children, aged 18 
        and under.
            (9) A significant number of health centers provide dental 
        services, but in many instances those services are inadequate 
        to meet the needs of low-income children in the communities 
        they serve.

SEC. 3. ACCESS TO DENTAL CARE PILOT PROGRAM.

    Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 330M. ACCESS TO DENTAL CARE PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Grants.--The Secretary shall award grants to Federally 
qualified health centers to expand and improve the provision of 
pediatric dental services to medically underserved populations.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--The Secretary may not make a grant to a 
Federally qualified health center under this section unless the center 
agrees to use the grant to expand and improve the provision of 
pediatric dental services to medically underserved populations by--
            ``(1) recruiting dentists, pediatric dentists, or dentists 
        with pediatric training to provide pediatric dental services to 
        populations served by the center;
            ``(2) purchasing or renting equipment for the provision of 
        dental services;
            ``(3) constructing and expanding physical space for the 
        provision of dental services; or
            ``(4) allowing contractual relationships between Federally 
        qualified health centers and private dental providers to 
        increase access to dental care for adults and children.
    ``(c) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
shall conduct an evaluation of the activities funded through grants 
under this section and submit a report to the Congress on the results 
of such evaluation.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `Federally qualified health center' has the 
        meaning given to such term in section 1861(aa)(4) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(4)).
            ``(2) The term `pediatric dentist' means an individual who 
        has successfully completed residency training from a pediatric 
        dentistry program accredited by the Commission on Dental 
        Accreditation.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2008 through 2013.''.

SEC. 4. DENTISTRY WORKFORCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292 et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after section 747 the following:

``SEC. 747A. DENTISTRY WORKFORCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Grants.--The Secretary shall make grants to schools of 
dentistry and hospitals with accredited training programs in pediatric 
dentistry to increase the number of individuals who pursue academic 
programs in pediatric dentistry.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--The Secretary may not make a grant to a school 
of dentistry or a hospital under this section unless the school or 
hospital agrees to use the grant to increase the number of individuals 
who pursue academic programs in pediatric dentistry by--
            ``(1) establishing, maintaining, or improving both pre- and 
        post-doctoral academic programs in pediatric dentistry;
            ``(2) recruiting and training dental students to pursue 
        training in pediatric dentistry;
            ``(3) strengthening training in pediatric dentistry within 
        advanced education in general dentistry and general practice 
        dentistry residencies in dentistry programs; or
            ``(4) recruiting and training practicing dentists through 
        continuing education programs in pediatric dentistry.
    ``(c) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
shall conduct an evaluation of the activities funded through grants 
under this section and submit a report to the Congress on the results 
of such evaluation.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2008 through 2013.''.
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