SB217
Log in to followAN ACT relating to dentistry, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring an emergency.
Amend KRS 164.936 to establish maximum loan repayment awards under the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program for dentists and dentists in counties that do not have an actively practicing dentist; provide rural dental practice grant awards and criteria; establish distribution requirements for funds appropriated to the Center of Excellence in Rural Health for loan repayment awards for dentists and rural dental practice grants; amend KRS 164.937 to require information on the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program to be reported to the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Legislative Research Commission; amend KRS 313.035 to require the Kentucky Board of Dentistry to create a Rural Dental Fellows Network; require the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates by 25% for dental services in federally designated health professional shortage areas; appropriate $4,400,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Center of Excellence in Rural Health budget unit; appropriate $600,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Kentucky Board of Dentistry; appropriate $1,000,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Department for Medicaid Services; provide that the Act may be cited as the Rural Dental Incentive and Access Program Act; specify that the expanded award eligibility, required reporting on the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program, and the Rural Dental Fellows Network shall expire on July 1, 2036; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.
Introduced: February 20, 2026
Last action: February 20, 2026
Plain-language summary
This bill creates the Rural Dental Incentive and Access Program, which offers loan repayment awards and grants to encourage dentists to practice in rural Kentucky communities, including counties with no actively practicing dentist. It also raises Medicaid reimbursement rates by 25% for dental services in areas designated as having a shortage of health professionals, and sets up a Rural Dental Fellows Network through the Kentucky Board of Dentistry. The state would appropriate roughly $6 million per year over two fiscal years to fund these efforts. Who it may affect: dentists considering rural practice, residents of rural and underserved Kentucky counties who lack access to dental care, and Kentuckians enrolled in Medicaid.
Legislative History
Primary Sponsor
