Support SB1372 to Add Adult Dental Coverage to Arizona Medicaid

I am writing to express my strong support for Senate Bill 1372, which represents an important first step toward adding comprehensive adult dental coverage to Arizona's Medicaid program. This legislation, currently assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, deserves swift passage. Arizona is one of only a handful of states that does not provide comprehensive dental benefits to adult Medicaid enrollees. This gap in coverage has serious consequences. Untreated dental disease leads to emergency room visits that cost taxpayers far more than preventive care would. Poor oral health is linked to diabetes complications, heart disease, and other chronic conditions that drive up healthcare costs across the system. The economic argument for adult dental coverage is compelling. When low-income adults cannot access dental care, they miss work due to pain and infection. They face barriers to employment when missing or damaged teeth affect their ability to interview successfully. Emergency dental visits to hospitals, which cannot provide definitive treatment, cost the state significantly more than routine preventive care through a dental provider. SB1372 sponsored by Senator Thomas Shope offers a practical approach to addressing this coverage gap. Investing in preventive dental care for Medicaid adults will reduce costly emergency interventions, improve health outcomes for chronic disease management, and help Arizona residents maintain employment and economic stability. I urge you to support SB1372 as it moves through the Health and Human Services Committee. Comprehensive adult dental coverage is not just good health policy, it is sound fiscal policy that will benefit Arizona taxpayers and improve the wellbeing of our most vulnerable residents. This legislation deserves bipartisan support as a common-sense investment in public health and economic productivity.