Dental access coalition holds press conference on dental access bill

The Texas Public Policy Foundation will join members of the Texas Dental Access Coalition, Senator José Rodríguez (D-El Paso), and Representatives Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) and Jim Keffer (R-Eastland), to hold a press conference TODAY, Monday, April 13 at 12:30 pm CDT in the Speaker’s Committee Room in the Texas Capitol. The press conference will discuss Senate Bill 787 and House Bill 1940, which would allow highly-trained Licensed Dental Hygiene Practitioners to provide routine and restorative dental care under the supervision of a dentist. This legislation is a free-market solution that improves access to dental care, creates middle-class jobs, and reduces health care costs.
 

WHY:                     Texas suffers from a lack of access to dental care:

• 20 percent of Texas counties have no dentists and 12 percent have only one dentist.
• Approximately 4 million adults and 1 million seniors in Texas need immediate dental care. More than 3 million Texas children have Medicaid coverage, but approximately one-third of Texas counties have no dentists participating in Medicaid.
• In 2013, 51,000 Texans with Medicaid coverage visited emergency rooms for dental problems, yielding a combined state-federal price tag of over $14 million. 

More than two dozen organizations representing businesses, child welfare and senior organizations, medical professionals, and conservative advocates comprise the Texas Dental Access Coalition. Members include the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Association of Business, Texas Dental Hygienists Association, Texas Hospital Association, Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, Texas Oral Health Coalition, and Americans for Tax Reform.
 
For more information about the coalition, visit www.texasdentalaccesscoalition.org