Senators Hassan and Marshall Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Affordable Dental Care

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) along with Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Curtis (R-UT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced legislation that would help expand affordable dental care options for Americans in states without a state-run health insurance marketplace, including New Hampshire and Kansas. The federal health insurance marketplace does not allow individuals to purchase stand-alone dental plans unless an individual also purchases health insurance on the federal exchange. This leaves many residents in New Hampshire, as well as in 30 other states without a state-run health insurance marketplace, unable to access affordable dental insurance on the federal health insurance marketplace. This bill would allow consumers to purchase a stand-alone dental plan on the federal health insurance marketplace if they live in one of the 31 states without a state-run health insurance marketplace.

“Every American should be able to access affordable dental care,” said Senator Hassan. “This bipartisan bill is a commonsense way to lower health care costs, allowing Granite Staters to easily buy affordable dental insurance plans online. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation as l continue to work to lower health care costs for Granite State families.”

Senator Hassan is working to lower health care and prescription drug costs for Americans. Senator Hassan has helped pass into law several bipartisan measures to increase access to generic and biosimilar medications to reduce prescription drug costs. Senator Hassan led successful bipartisan efforts to help eliminate surprise medical billing, which has prevented at least 9 million surprise bills. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act included a number of key provisions that Senator Hassan pushed for to take on Big Pharma and address the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs, including allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices – which will bring down the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and help drive down prices across the board.

This bill is supported by the American Association of Kidney Patients, American Council of Life Insurers, American Society of Nephrology, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental Plans Association, Dialysis Patient Citizens, Families USA, Guardian Life, National Association of Dental Plans, National Kidney Foundation, Nonprofit Kidney Care Alliance, Northeast Delta Dental, Principal Financial Group, Sun Life, and United Concordia Companies, Inc.

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