Durbin Visits Parkland College To Celebrate $3.5 Million For Dental Education

Durbin Visits Parkland College To Celebrate $3.5 Million For Dental Education

CHAMPAIGN - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today held a press conference to discuss federal funding he secured that will allow Parkland College to construct a new dental clinic and training facility.

The $3.5 million in federal funding, secured through the Congressionally Directed Spending process, also known as an earmark, in the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations package that was enacted earlier this month, will enable Parkland College to increase enrollment in its dental hygienist program by 40 percent and expand dental services for patients in the community. This investment in the region's dental workforce will increase access to care and reduce wait times for families to see oral health professionals.

"Anyone who has ever experienced the pain of a toothache knows that oral health care is not a luxury, it is essential," said Durbin. "That's why I was happy to help Parkland College with this funding to grow their dental hygienic training program to enroll more students and provide care to more members of the community."

In Illinois, 2.8 million people live in communities with a shortage of dental providers. Nine counties in the state have only one dentist. For example, there is one dentist for 15,000 people in Lawrence County.

More than three million Illinoisans have Medicaid, but only 24 percent of dentists accept Medicaid. As a result, only 37 percent of children covered by Medicaid have a dental visit in a given year. One study found that it is nearly six times easier for a child with private insurance to get an oral health care appointment than those who have Medicaid.

In January 2024, Durbin introduced the bipartisan Promoting Dental Health Act with Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), which would reauthorize the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Oral Health program to support 20 states in data collection, water fluoridation, educating dental health professionals, and community outreach programs. Currently, Illinois does not receive any of the $20.5 million in direct grants, due to the fact that the Oral Health program is not adequately funded to serve every state.

In November 2023, Durbin sent three oversight letters to DentaQuest, Envolve, and Avesis - three companies that administer dental benefits for Medicaid managed care companies (MCOs) in Illinois - to seek answers on barriers to providing dental care to Medicaid enrollees. The letters raised concerns and investigated certain insurance practices that can limit and discourage provider participation in Medicaid, which exacerbate existing reimbursement rate challenges.

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