Lawmakers Include Oral Health Allocations in Annual Government Funding Package
Congress passed a $1.4 trillion "omnibus" government funding package for fiscal year (FY) 2021 on December 21, after several delays due to pending negotiations on the latest COVID-19 relief bill. Aside from the relief bill attached to the annual appropriations package as a "ride-along" measure, the funding bill included noteworthy allocations for several oral health-related programs and provisions. The oral health items included in the final FY2021 appropriations package are within the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) FY2021 appropriations division.
AGD successfully advocated for level funding for HRSA's Oral Health Training Programs at over $40.6 million for 2021, with $12 million for general dentistry residencies and continued funding for dental faculty loan repayment. $300,000 was set aside for the continued development of a HRSA-wide oral health literacy and awareness campaign, which will tie in with the effort to pass AGD's 5-year oral health literacy campaign legislation H.R.4678, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act. $19.5 million was included for the CDC's Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Oral Health Promotion Funding, and $210 million was set aside for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health (OSH).
Impact on General Dentistry: AGD is pleased to see increased and sustained funding in 2020 for the various government-funded oral health programs that AGD supported in its requests to policymakers. The addition of a COVID-19 relief bill that also addressed AGD priorities represents a significant win for AGD advocacy in 2020, which would not have been possible without our members' support and efforts.
AGD successfully advocated for level funding for HRSA's Oral Health Training Programs at over $40.6 million for 2021, with $12 million for general dentistry residencies and continued funding for dental faculty loan repayment. $300,000 was set aside for the continued development of a HRSA-wide oral health literacy and awareness campaign, which will tie in with the effort to pass AGD's 5-year oral health literacy campaign legislation H.R.4678, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act. $19.5 million was included for the CDC's Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Oral Health Promotion Funding, and $210 million was set aside for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health (OSH).
Impact on General Dentistry: AGD is pleased to see increased and sustained funding in 2020 for the various government-funded oral health programs that AGD supported in its requests to policymakers. The addition of a COVID-19 relief bill that also addressed AGD priorities represents a significant win for AGD advocacy in 2020, which would not have been possible without our members' support and efforts.