The Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act was reintroduced in Congress and received backing from a coalition of more than 10 dental organizations, according to an April 4 news release from the American Dental Association.
Here are five things to know:
- H.R.1758 and S.1080 allow individuals in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program to exclude the amount of their loan forgiveness from income taxes, which in turn increases available resources for dental training programs.
- The program was initially created to help dental academic institutions recruit and retain faculty members.
- There is currently a shortage of dental faculty, negatively impacting the dental workforce pipeline.
- The legislation was introduced by Reps. Jeff Van Drew, DMD, D-N.J., and Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
- Other members of the coalition include the Academy of General Dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Association of Orthodontists.
