AGD Capitol Connections

On June 18, 2025, U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) reintroduced the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act.

On June 20, 2025, AGD sent an Organized Dentistry Coalition letter urging the Department of Defense (DoD) to maintain current water fluoridation levels on overseas military bases. The AGD initiated letter highlights the role of water fluoridation as a cost-effective public health measure essential to preventing dental disease and supporting military readiness.

On June 11, 2025, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, which includes several provisions mirroring those in the reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22.

On May 28, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) held the 239th Meeting of the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council (NADCRC).

On June 4, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2483, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, by a vote of 366-57. Originally enacted in 2018, the SUPPORT Act authorized funding for community-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery programs, many of which expired in 2023.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its reconciliation package containing a harmful provision that would increase taxes on small business dental practices. If enacted, the legislation would prevent these practices from deducting state-level pass-through entity taxes (PTET) on their federal returns.

On May 13, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market. These supplements, which have been widely used to help prevent tooth decay in non-fluoridated areas, will undergo a final safety review before the FDA takes action.

On May 22, 2025, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, established by the Trump Administration, released a preliminary report assessing the causes of childhood chronic disease.

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its budget reconciliation package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), by a vote of 215-214-1. The bill addresses multiple policy priorities for President Trump and Congressional Republicans, including an extension of expiring tax cuts under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and significant reforms to state-level financing mechanisms and beneficiary eligibility of Medicaid.

On May 8, 2025, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), alongside Representatives Kim Schrier (D-WA-08) and Neal Dunn (R-FL-02), reintroduced the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA), which would require all private health insurance plans to cover medically necessary treatments for congenital anomalies or birth defects.

On April 29, 2025, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a full committee mark-up of six health care-related bills, including the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R.2483).

During the week of May 5, 2025, AGD advocates and leadership traveled to Washington, D.C. to engage policymakers on key dental health issues.

In 2023, the President signed the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. This legislation established a new requirement that prescribers of certain controlled substances complete a one-time, eight-hour training before registering or renewing their registration with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

On April 16, 2025, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Health Subcommittee member Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC) called for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the vertical consolidation of Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations (MAO) and its impact on Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) calculations.

On April 7, 2025, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the Associated Press that he plans to tell public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending the fluoridation of community drinking water as part of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda.

On April 10, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-214 to approve a budget resolution negotiated between House and Senate leadership with the full support of the Trump Administration.

On April 9, 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a request for information (RFI) to “[solicit] ideas for deregulation from across the country.” According to the request, “commenters should identify rules to be rescinded and provide detailed reasons for their rescission.”

On March 27, 2025, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a law to outlaw the addition of fluoride to public drinking water in the state. The legislation will take effect on May 7, 2025. Utah is the first state to enact such legislation, in a time when fluoride has come under increased criticism.

On March 27, 2025, Representatives Mark Green (R-TN), Kim Schrier (D-WA), and Greg Murphy (R-NC) re-introduced H.R. 2433, the Reducing Medically Unnecessary Delays in Care Act of 2025.

On February 27, 2025, Representatives Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY) re-introduced H.R. 1758, the Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act. On March 14, 2025, Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced S. 1080, the companion bill in the Senate.