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119-hr-10419119th CongressWALLET

SMILE for Veterans Act

Sponsored By: Representative Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1]

In Committee

Summary

This bill would create a Rural Veterans Dental Access Pilot Program to expand dental access for rural veterans by paying community providers, including mobile clinics, to deliver basic and urgent outpatient dental care and by conducting targeted outreach.

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  • Veterans: Would make VA-enrolled rural veterans eligible if they are not covered under existing VA dental rules or if they cannot access VA or Community Care services within established access standards. Homeless veterans may get waived enrollment rules and alternative verification.
  • Community providers and locations: Would recruit nonprofit clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, rural clinics, dental schools, mobile units, and private practices. The pilot must run in at least 10 rural locations across at least 5 states and include an annually updated public provider directory.
  • Operations and oversight: Would require outreach through VA channels, at least one VA point of contact at each site, an internal VA working group to assess mobile and community models, and a Congress report after 3 years with counts of veterans served, types of services, geographic coverage, and total costs.

*Would authorize $5.0 million for FY2027 and $20.0 million annually for FY2028–2030, totaling $65.0 million in authorized funding and increasing federal spending by that amount subject to appropriation.*

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Rural veterans dental care pilot

If enacted, the bill would require VA to start a three-year pilot to expand dental care for eligible rural veterans. The pilot must begin no later than one year after enactment and run in at least 10 rural locations across at least 5 States. It would offer basic, preventive, restorative, and urgent outpatient dental services, use community providers (including mobile clinics and no-cost dentistry days), and include annual reviews of program effectiveness.

Funding for rural dental pilot

If enacted, the bill would authorize $5 million for fiscal year 2027 to set up the pilot and $20 million for each of fiscal years 2028, 2029, and 2030 to run it. These are authorizations of appropriations to VA to operate the pilot, not direct payments to veterans.

Protections for veteran dental billing

If enacted, the bill would require participating providers to accept the VA-set reimbursement as full payment for covered services and generally not bill veterans extra. Providers could charge for non-covered elective services only after giving a clear advance cost disclosure and getting the veteran's consent. The Secretary would set reimbursement rates and, when practicable, cap them at the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program rates. VA would also have to process clean provider claims within 30 days and keep a public provider directory updated at least annually.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1]

MI • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large]

    DE • D

    Sponsored 11/2/2026

  • Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1]

    NC • D

    Sponsored 9/16/2026

  • Rep. Van Drew, Jefferson [R-NJ-2]

    NJ • R

    Sponsored 9/16/2026

  • Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2]

    ME • D

    Sponsored 9/16/2026

  • Del. King-Hinds, Kimberlyn [R-MP-At Large]

    MP • R

    Sponsored 9/16/2026

  • Rep. Murphy, Gregory F. [R-NC-3]

    NC • R

    Sponsored 9/16/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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