Virginia's Senate and House of Delegates have both approved budget language that will allow a stakeholder group to continue its work to transition Virginia Department of Health (VDH) dental clinics to a prevention-based model. In addition, both budgets have included amendments that will affect Medicaid coverage for 400,000 Virginians. If Medicaid expands in Virginia, these indivdiuals will have access to emergency dental extractions.
The House and Senate budgets are now in conference committee – a group comprised of appointed members from each body who come together to hash out differences between the two budgets until one, final budget is realized.
The Coalition encourages all of our partners to contact committee members to say thank you for recognizing the importance of access to oral health services in Virginia.