Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization as Signed into Law Contains Key Dental Provisions Sought by AAPD

摘要

On Feb. 4, 2009, President Obama signed into law legislation to reauthorize and expand the state Children's Health Insurance Program to an additional four million children. The official title of the legislation is the "Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2009," so once again the program will be referred to as CHIP versus SCHIP. The House passed the bill on Jan. 14, 2009, by a vote of 289-139, while the Senate approved the bill by a vote of 66-32 on Jan. 29, 2009. CHIP was set to expire on March 31, 2009, absent congressional action.The law requires states to offer dental care through CHIP, and also allows states to extend dental benefits to children who have private health coverage that does not include dental coverage. This represents a tremendous legislative victory for children, as these provisions were strongly advocated by the AAPD and the dental community. The AAPD worked especially closely with the ADA, AGD, ADEA and the Children's Dental Health Project.