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Read. Follow. Verify.Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (H.R. 3277)
Last action · May 8, 2025: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.Sponsors: Neal Dunn and 204 others
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What This Bill Would Do
This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover medical and surgical treatment for congenital anomalies or birth defects that affect the eyes, ears, teeth, mouth, or jaw. It mandates that these services be covered if a doctor deems them medically necessary to restore normal body function or appearance.
If passed, this law would require health insurance plans to pay for reconstructive procedures and dental/orthodontic support for birth defects, preventing insurers from denying coverage for these specific conditions.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Health insurance issuers
They must update their coverage policies and notices to include treatment for specific congenital anomalies.
Patients with congenital anomalies
They gain a federal requirement for insurance coverage of medically necessary reconstructive and dental services related to their condition.
Key Facts
- Requires group and individual health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment for congenital anomalies affecting the eyes, ears, teeth, mouth, or jaw.
- Mandates coverage for reconstructive services, adjunctive dental/orthodontic support, and follow-up treatment as determined medically necessary by a physician.
- Allows insurers to apply cost-sharing (copays, deductibles) as long as they are no more restrictive than those applied to other medical/surgical benefits.
- Explicitly excludes coverage for cosmetic surgery performed solely to improve appearance or self-esteem if not related to a congenital anomaly.
Show all 6 facts
- Requires health plans to provide notice to participants regarding this new coverage by January 1, 2026.
- Defines 'congenital anomaly' as a structural or functional anomaly occurring during intrauterine life that may be identified before, at, or after birth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this bill cover cosmetic surgery?
When would this coverage requirement begin?
What body parts are covered under this bill?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- May 8, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- May 8, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
POLSINELLI PC
on behalf of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGEONS
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 200 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Mandated Health Coverage
The bill seeks to standardize coverage for congenital anomalies across both the Public Health Service Act and ERISA, ensuring parity between different types of health plans.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.congress.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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