AAE and Coalition Partners Advocate for Patients with Congenital Anomalies Through ELSA
The American Association of Endodontists (AAE), in collaboration with its partners in the Organized Dentistry Coalition (ODC), is proud to stand behind the reintroduction of the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA)—a bipartisan bill (S.1677/H.R.3277) that seeks to ensure insurance coverage for medically necessary services related to congenital anomalies. Together with dedicated members and allied dental organizations, AAE is championing this critical legislation that would close longstanding insurance loopholes affecting some of the most vulnerable patients in the healthcare system.
AAE joined dozens of professional dental organizations in signing a coalition letter to the bill’s lead sponsors—Senators Tammy Baldwin and Joni Ernst, and Representatives Neal Dunn, MD, and Kim Schrier, MD—thanking them for their leadership in advancing ELSA. This unified action reinforces the shared mission among dental providers to ensure that patients born with craniofacial conditions—such as cleft palate, hypodontia, or jaw deformities—can access the full range of provider-directed, medically necessary treatments throughout their lives.
AAE members, many of whom provide specialty care as part of multidisciplinary teams treating congenital conditions, understand the barriers patients face when medically indicated dental procedures are denied or delayed by insurers. Too often, corrective care, including endodontic, surgical, orthodontic, and prosthodontic services—is misclassified as cosmetic or relegated to limited dental benefits, leaving families burdened with extraordinary out-of-pocket costs. The passage of ELSA would ensure medical plans cover the full continuum of necessary treatment, not just the initial intervention.
AAE sees the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA) as not just a policy issue, but as a reflection of the core values of our specialty. AAE members are deeply committed to patient care and understand the necessity of timely and comprehensive treatment. ELSA brings attention to the challenges in care and confirms that dental services are essential for holistic, medically necessary treatment.
AAE’s involvement in this coalition effort demonstrates the strength of collective advocacy. Through the ODC, AAE’s voice is strengthened alongside a national network of dental professionals dedicated to influencing policies that protect patients and support providers. Member engagement and unity across the profession are vital to these successes, and AAE remains committed to this mission.