Learn more: <a href="https://www.aapd.org/advocacy/elsa" target="_blank">AAPD | Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA) Advocacy </a>&nbsp;
Instructions: 
Contact your U.S. representatives and senators to request their support for the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act using our easy, pre-written messages.&nbsp;
The first message will be sent to your senators. After submitting it, you will be directed to a second message for your representative. Please be sure to complete both steps.&nbsp;
Each message includes a field for you to personalize:&nbsp;
<blockquote>1. I am a pediatric dentist in __________________, </blockquote>

Contact your U.S. representatives and senators

Obtaining Passage of the  Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA)

I am a pediatric dentist in __________________, writing to urge your support for passage of the bipartisan, bicameral Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA) (H.R.3277/S.1677), led by Senate sponsors Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) and House sponsors Reps. Kim Schrier (D-WA-8) and Neal Dunn (R-FL-2).

About 4% of children in the US are born with congenital anomalies that affect the way they look, develop, or function. Many born with congenital anomalies suffer from severe oral defects (such as cleft lip or palate), skeletal defects (such as craniosynostosis), vision defects (such as congenital cataracts), hearing defects (such as microtia), or other loss of bodily functions. Individuals who do not receive timely, continuous care for their congenital anomalies face long-term physical and psychological injuries. I have treated such challenging cases many times in my clinical practice.
Most group and individual health plans state that they include coverages for congenital anomalies, and all 50 states require health insurers to provide coverage for the treatment of congenital anomalies. Despite this, health plans systematically and routinely deny or delay claims and appeals for treatment of many congenital anomalies by wrongfully categorizing certain treatments or body parts as cosmetic or not medically necessary. This common practice leaves families with the burden of paying 100% of the cost for their child's medically necessary treatments, despite maintaining private health plans.

ELSA will close loopholes and ensure that group and individual health plans do not deny or delay medically necessary treatments of congenital anomalies, therefore improving the health of countless Americans. ELSA would require a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage, to provide coverage for outpatient and inpatient items and services related to the diagnosis and treatment of a congenital anomaly or birth defect, including any medically necessary item or service to achieve normal body functioning, and it clarifies that coverage includes adjunctive dental, orthodontic, and prosthodontic support. ELSA explicitly excludes coverage of cosmetic surgeries.

In the 117th Congress, ELSA gained strong bipartisan support, and it passed in the House of Representatives with a 310-110 vote. For ELSA’s reintroduction in the 119th Congress, the bill sponsors and a broad coalition of patient-focused and professional medical and dental organizations worked together to strengthen ELSA’s language by addressing feedback and incorporating recommendations from federal agencies. ELSA is endorsed by over 70 national health care professional and patient advocacy organizations.

If you are not already a co-sponsor, please consider signing onto this legislation. If you are already a co-sponsor, thank you for your support!

I urge you to take all possible action to support passage of ELSA in the current session of Congress, so that the people born with congenital anomalies no longer have to wait for this much-needed relief. 

Thank you for your consideration.

ELSA Summer 2026 Alert

American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

I am a pediatric dentist in __________________, writing to urge your support for passage of the bipartisan, bicameral Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA) (H.R.3277/S.1677), led by Senate sponsors Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) and House sponsors Reps. Kim Schrier (D-WA-8) and Neal Dunn (R-FL-2).

About 4% of children in the US are born with congenital anomalies that affect the way they look, develop, or function. Many born with congenital anomalies suffer from severe oral defects (such as cleft lip or palate), skeletal defects (such as craniosynostosis), vision defects (such as congenital cataracts), hearing defects (such as microtia), or other loss of bodily functions. Individuals who do not receive timely, continuous care for their congenital anomalies face long-term physical and psychological injuries. I have treated such challenging cases many times in my clinical practice.

Most group and individual health plans state that they include coverages for congenital anomalies, and all 50 states require health insurers to provide coverage for the treatment of congenital anomalies. Despite this, health plans systematically and routinely deny or delay claims and appeals for treatment of many congenital anomalies by wrongfully categorizing certain treatments or body parts as cosmetic or not medically necessary. This common practice leaves families with the burden of paying 100% of the cost for their child's medically necessary treatments, despite maintaining private health plans.

ELSA will close loopholes and ensure that group and individual health plans do not deny or delay medically necessary treatments of congenital anomalies, therefore improving the health of countless Americans. ELSA would require a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage, to provide coverage for outpatient and inpatient items and services related to the diagnosis and treatment of a congenital anomaly or birth defect, including any medically necessary item or service to achieve normal body functioning, and it clarifies that coverage includes adjunctive dental, orthodontic, and prosthodontic support. ELSA explicitly excludes coverage of cosmetic surgeries.

In the 117th Congress, ELSA gained strong bipartisan support, and it passed in the House of Representatives with a 310-110 vote. For ELSA’s reintroduction in the 119th Congress, the bill sponsors and a broad coalition of patient-focused and professional medical and dental organizations worked together to strengthen ELSA’s language by addressing feedback and incorporating recommendations from federal agencies. ELSA is endorsed by over 70 national health care professional and patient advocacy organizations.

If you are not already a co-sponsor, please consider signing onto this legislation. If you are already a co-sponsor, thank you for your support!

I urge you to take all possible action to support passage of ELSA in the current session of Congress, so that the people born with congenital anomalies no longer have to wait for this much-needed relief. 

Thank you for your consideration.

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