§ 280k–3 — Updating National Oral Healthcare Surveillance Activities

(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”) shall carry out activities to update and improve the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (referred to in this section as “PRAMS”) as it relates to oral healthcare. (i) Not later than 5 years after March 23, 2010, and every 5 years thereafter, a State shall submit to the Secretary a report concerning activities conducted within the State under PRAMS. (ii) The oral healthcare measurements developed by the Secretary for use under PRAMS shall be mandatory with respect to States for purposes of the State reports under clause (i). (C) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph, such sums as may be necessary. (2) The Secretary shall develop oral healthcare components that shall include tooth-level surveillance for inclusion in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Such components shall be updated by the Secretary at least every 6 years. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “tooth-level surveillance” means a clinical examination where an examiner looks at each dental surface, on each tooth in the mouth and as expanded by the Division of Oral Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (3) The Secretary shall ensure that the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality includes the verification of dental utilization, expenditure, and coverage findings through conduct of a look-back analysis. (A) There is authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to increase the participation of States in the National Oral Health Surveillance System from 16 States to all 50 States, territories, and District of Columbia. (B) The Secretary shall ensure that the National Oral Health Surveillance System include the measurement of early childhood caries.