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119-hr-10751119th CongressWALLET

Tribal Oral Health Sovereignty Act

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

Introduced

Summary

Authorizes CHAP-certified dental therapists to practice in Indian health programs without state licensure barriers and preserves Community Health Aide Program funding. This bill would let dental therapists certified by the Community Health Aide Certification Board or by tribes with equivalent standards provide care in Indian Health Service, tribal, and urban Indian programs regardless of conflicting State licensure rules, while keeping CHAP funding levels intact.

Show full summary
  • Tribes and tribal health programs: It strengthens tribal sovereignty over oral health by accepting tribal certification that meets or exceeds CHAP standards and by ensuring CHAP funding is not reduced when a national program is established. This supports tribal control of provider standards and program budgets.
  • Dental therapists and certifying bodies: It creates a clear federal path for CHAP-certified and tribal-certified dental therapists to practice within their certification scope. Providers must follow the certifying body's training, supervision, scope of practice, and continuing education rules.
  • Patients and access to care: By removing state licensure barriers inside Indian health programs, more communities served by IHS, tribal, and urban Indian providers could gain local access to dental therapy services in those programs.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

More dental therapists in tribal clinics

If enacted, this bill would let dental therapists who are certified by the Community Health Aide Certification Board or by a tribe with equal-or-higher standards provide care in Indian health programs. This would apply even if State licensure or scope-of-practice rules would otherwise block them. Those therapists would still have to follow the certifying body's training, supervision, scope, and continuing-education rules and the bill's program supervision requirements. The bill would also bar the Secretary from reducing Community Health Aide Program funding amounts under the cited subsections while creating the national program; no new dollar amounts are specified.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1]

MI • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Cole, Tom [R-OK-4]

    OK • R

    Sponsored 10/6/2026

  • Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3]

    KS • D

    Sponsored 10/6/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
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