PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 13, 2009
Medicaid-SCHIP Dental Benefits Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for coverage of dental benefits.
Directs the Comptroller General to provide for a study that examines: (1) access to dental services by children in underserved areas; (2) children's access to oral health care, including preventive and restorative services, under Medicaid and SCHIP; and (3) the feasibility and appropriateness of using qualified mid-level dental health providers, in coordination with dentists, to improve access for children to oral health services and public health overall.
Amends SSA title XI to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify and publish for general comment an initial, recommended core set of child health quality measures for use by state programs administered under Medicaid and SCHIP, health insurance issuers, and managed care entities that enter into contracts with such programs, as well as providers of items and services.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Directs the Secretary to establish a pediatric quality measures program.
Directs the Secretary to award not more than 10 grants to states and child health providers to conduct demonstration projects to evaluate promising ideas for improving the quality of children's health care under Medicaid or SCHIP.
Directs the Secretary to conduct a demonstration project to develop a comprehensive and systematic model for reducing childhood obseity.
Directs the Secretary to establish a program to encourage the development and dissemination of a model electronic health record format for children enrolled in the state plan under Medicaid or SCHIP.
Directs the Institute of Medicine to study and report to Congress on the extent and quality of efforts to measure child health status and the quality of health care for children across the age span and in relation to preventive care, treatments for acute conditions, and treatments aimed at ameliorating or correcting physical, mental, and developmental conditionns in children.
People & committees
Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7] · D–MD
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.462 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.462 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.462 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.462 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.