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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 11, 2024 11:21 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Frank A. Farry |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact |
| I will soon be re-introducing legislation that would authorize our Commonwealth to join the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. This legislation would help address the dental healthcare workforce shortage by making it easier for dentists and hygienists who hold a license in good standing from another state to come to Pennsylvania to practice. Today in the United States, 68 million Americans live in an area suffering from a shortage of dental providers. An October 2024 report from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration designated 34 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties as dental shortage areas and another 10 counties as having partial dental shortage areas. The American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute data on active dentists shows that over the last 10 years, Pennsylvania has consistently fallen below the national average on the number of dentists for every 100,000 residents. The compact will benefit dentists and hygienists, and most importantly patients, by expanding opportunities to enter new markets where dental healthcare is needed most; regulators will see reduced administrative burdens and greater public safety though a shared data system; and the Commonwealth will see an enhanced dental healthcare workforce and greater consumer access to highly qualified practitioners. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation Previous co-sponsors were Senators Brown, Schwank, Dush, Laughlin, and Langerholc. |