Senate Committee Advances Health Workforce Bill Carrying Dental Training Programs

Edited by Dentaltown staff

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted unanimously July 22 to advance the EMPOWER for Health Act, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize federal Title VII health professions programs, including several that fund dental education.

S. 4110, formally the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness for Health Act, was introduced March 17 by Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. The bill must still be considered by the full Senate and has not become law.

As introduced, the measure extends authorizations for Public Health Service Act workforce programs through fiscal 2030 and raises the dollar figures for most of them. The annual authorization under section 748 would rise to $42,673,000 from $28,531,000, and the primary care training authorization under section 747 would increase to $49,924,000 from $48,924,000.

The ADA said the reauthorized programs include the Primary Care Dental Training Cluster, which supports predoctoral and postdoctoral dental education, residencies in general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and public health dentistry, and dental hygiene training. The association also cited the Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program, which helps academic institutions recruit and retain dental educators.

ADA President Richard Rosato and Executive Director Nader Nadershahi said in a statement that workforce shortages leave millions of Americans, particularly in rural and low-income communities, facing barriers to dental care. Reed said he was pleased the committee voted unanimously to advance the bill, pointing to shortages of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals in Rhode Island.

The committee took up S. 4110 alongside a dozen other health measures at its July 22 executive session, among them the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act and the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act.

Sources:
U.S. Government Publishing Office, S. 4110 introduced Senate text, March 17, 2026: govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-119s4110is
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, executive session agenda, July 22, 2026: help.senate.gov/hearings/agenda-07-22-2026
Office of Sen. Jack Reed, “Reed’s EMPOWER for Health Act Approved by Key Committee,” July 22, 2026: reed.senate.gov/news/releases/empower-for-health-act
ADA News, “ADA applauds Senate HELP Committee action on Title VII workforce reauthorization,” July 24, 2026: adanews.ada.org/2026/july/title-vii-workforce-reauthorization