bernie sanders

From the Office of Senator Bernie Sanders:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today at 10:00 a.m. ET, will lead the committee in a hearing titled, “Examining the Dental Care Crisis in America: How Can We Make Dental Care More Affordable and More Available?”.

Today in America, nearly 70 million adults and nearly 8 million children have no dental insurance and many of those who do have dental insurance find that coverage to be totally inadequate. More than 40 percent of children in America have tooth decay by the time they reach kindergarten, and about half of our nation’s seniors have no dental insurance. One out of five seniors are missing all their natural teeth and cannot afford a full set of dentures, which can cost many thousands of dollars. Estimates show 70 percent of older Americans have some sort of periodontal disease which can lead to rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

This crisis affects Americans of all ages and is only getting worse, hitting rural communities and low-income families the hardest. According to the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, there were 1.8 million visits to emergency rooms across the country for preventative dental conditions in 2019 – a 62% increase from 2014.

Speakers include:

• Lisa Simon, MD, DMD, Associate Physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Member of the Faculty, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
• Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD, MBA, President and CEO, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, Boston, MA
• Brian Jeffrey Swann, DMD, MPH, Board of Directors, Remote Area Medical (RAM), Co-Chair, Global Oral Health Outreach, National Dental Association, Rockford, TN
• Gordon Roswell Isbell, III, DMD, MAGD, Past Trustee, Academy of General Dentistry, Gadsden, AL
• Debra Sacco, DMD, MD, District III Trustee, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Chapel Hill, NC

From the Office of Senator Bernie Sanders:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and a representative from the office of Congresswoman Becca Balint (Vt.-AL) hold a press conference to announce millions in federal funding that the Vermont Congressional Delegation secured on behalf of Vermont projects to address critical needs across the state.

The funding for the Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) projects was included in the first package of Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills that passed the U.S. Senate and was signed into law by President Biden. The $460 billion package was passed in time to avoid a government shutdown of many key federal agencies.

From the Office of Senator Bernie Sanders:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) holds a statewide telephone town meeting to hear directly from Vermonters about the challenges they are facing in their daily lives, their concerns for their families, their communities, their state, and the world - and how the federal government can work to address those concerns.

From the Office of Senator Bernie Sanders:

On August 12, the office of Senator Bernie Sanders hosted a senior event in Burlington. This was an opportunity for seniors to come together to enjoy delicious free food, listen to great music, and connect with friends and neighbors. Senator Sanders also be provided an update as to what’s going on in Washington and answer questions.