[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 59 (Monday, April 4, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H4146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SUPPORTING COVERAGE FOR NECESSARY CONGENITAL ANOMALIES SERVICES

  (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, this evening, the House of 
Representatives passed H.R. 1916, the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act, a 
bill which would require health plans to cover medically necessary 
services related to congenital anomalies.
  I would like to share the story of one of my constituents, Caleb 
Locke, a young man from Ashaway, Rhode Island, who was born with 
ectodermal dysplasia. As a result of his condition, Caleb's lower jaw 
is both thin and short with no ridge, and his posterior upper jaw lacks 
sufficient bone structure.
  Caleb is missing teeth, and he needs dental implants, but this 
process will require multiple surgeries, including bone grafts from his 
hip to reconstruct his jaw and sinuses.
  Unfortunately, and unbelievably, Caleb's health insurance has deemed 
these procedures as ``cosmetic'' and has consequently denied coverage.
  Madam Speaker, Caleb needs these surgeries, and they are clearly not 
cosmetic. It is wholly unacceptable that coverage can be denied on 
those grounds.
  Caleb, and anyone else with a congenital anomaly, should never be 
denied coverage for medically necessary services related to their 
conditions.
  That is why I was proud to support the passage of H.R. 1916 this 
evening, and I urge our colleagues in the Senate to promptly do the 
same.

                          ____________________