[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1878 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1878

 To assist low-income individuals in obtaining recommended dental care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 16, 2011

 Mr. Menendez introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To assist low-income individuals in obtaining recommended dental care.

    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 the ``Coordination of Pro Bono Medically 
Recommended Dental Care Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS OR CONTRACTS TO FACILITATE LOW-INCOME ACCESS TO DENTAL 
              CARE.

    Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by 
inserting after section 317M (42 U.S.C. 247b-14a) the following new 
section:

``SEC. 317M-1. GRANTS OR CONTRACTS TO FACILITATE LOW-INCOME ACCESS TO 
              DENTAL CARE.

    ``(a) Grants.--The Secretary shall award competitive grants to, or 
enter into contracts with, eligible entities to fund the employment 
costs of professionals who will use grant or contract funds to--
            ``(1) coordinate the provision of medically recommended 
        dental care to eligible low-income individuals by volunteer 
        dentists in a manner consistent with State licensing laws; and
            ``(2) verify the medical, dental, and financial needs of 
        eligible low-income individuals who may be eligible for free 
        dental services.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
        or contract under subsection (a), an entity shall--
                    ``(A) be an entity that is exempt from tax under 
                section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
                    ``(B) provide for the participation of eligible 
                individuals in a free dental services program on a 
                national basis; and
                    ``(C) submit to the Secretary an application at 
                such time, in such manner, and containing such 
                information as the Secretary may require.
            ``(2) Eligible individual.--To be eligible to participate 
        in a program described in paragraph (1)(B), an individual shall 
        be--
                    ``(A) an adult individual entitled to benefits 
                under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act;
                    ``(B) an individual enrolled in part B of title 
                XVIII of such Act;
                    ``(C) an individual enrolled in a State plan or 
                waiver under title XIX of such Act; or
                    ``(D) an individual enrolled in a State child 
                health plan under title XXI of such Act or under an 
                approved waiver of such plan.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--An entity shall use amounts received under a 
grant or contract under this section to establish, expand, or operate a 
program to coordinate the provision of free dental care through 
volunteer dentists to eligible individuals.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2012 through 2016.''.
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