Bilirakis Initiative to Expand Veterans’ Access to Dental Care Signed Into Law
Washington, DC: President Biden has signed the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act into law. This important legislation will help Veterans and their families by modernizing and reshaping the delivery of care and benefits. Specifically, the new law will:
- Expand economic opportunities
- Simplify the disability claims process,
- Reform services for aging Veterans, and
- Open more doors for mental health support
The package also contains an important provision that Congressman Gus Bilirakis has been championing for several years through his VETCARE Act. This provision creates a pilot program that enables Veterans with chronic health conditions access to dental care. Approximately 9% of all Veterans have access to oral health care through the VA (this benefit is currently limited to those with 100% disability rates, those with a service-connected disability involving the teeth, and certain Veterans enrolled in homeless programs). Scientific data clearly shows that oral health care is an important component of overall wellness and that dental conditions, when left untreated, exacerbate underlying chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. Millions of dollars are also unnecessarily spent each year in the United States on emergency room visits to address untreated oral health conditions that have caused infection. The Bilirakis-authored language that has been signed into law creates a pilot project to provide oral treatment to a small group of Veterans with chronic health conditions for which they are currently being treated by the VA. The goal of this legislation is to demonstrate the potential cost savings for the VA that can be attained by providing preventative oral health treatment to Veterans with chronic health conditions.
"Our Veterans have sacrificed so much on behalf of our country, they deserve access to high quality healthcare, and that includes dental care," said Bilirakis. "This pilot program will get the ball rolling to expand access to dental care for our nation's heroes, and could result in lower overall health care costs for the VA. Not only is this legislation good for Veterans, it is good for the VA as a whole. I’d also like to thank my friend, Dr. Zach Kalarickal, a Veteran dentist in Wesley Chapel, for his tireless efforts to get this important legislation across the finish line. He provided the technical support and foundational research needed to prove that regular dental care helps alleviate certain chronic conditions.