OLYMPIA— Looking to take a bite out of oral disease in Washington state, the Dental One Table announces their legislative priorities for the 2026 Session. Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane) and Rep. Monica Stonier (D-Vancouver) serve as Co-Chairs of the group which focuses on expanding access to oral care.
Untreated dental disease causes intense pain and affects a person’s ability to eat, sleep, learn, and work. Currently, tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease in the U.S., and the number one reason children miss school. More than one in four low-income Washingtonians report that the condition of their teeth has negatively impacted them in job interviews.
“All health starts with oral health,” said Sen. Riccelli. “All we’ve done to expand healthcare and food access in Washington won’t mean anything if our residents, particularly our kids, have untreated oral disease.”
This year’s priorities focus on providing Apple Health enrollees and the providers serving them with a reliable program during on-going budget challenges. 45 community groups, providers, and advocates have signed onto this effort from every corner of the state.
“We’re already seeing the negative impacts from funding cuts made last session,” said Rep. Stonier. “Dedicated Apple Health providers are being forced to make painful choices that are disproportionately impacting rural enrollees and patients with disabilities. Oral health is too important to whole personal health to ignore when making budget choices this year.”
This year’s seven priorities are:
- Maintain Washington’s Comprehensive Apple Health Adult Dental Benefit
More than one million adults in Washington are covered by Apple Health. Reducing or eliminating the program has dire results for enrollees and it will take years to rebuild the program should it be cut. - Make No Further Cuts to Pediatric Dental Reimbursement Rates Almost one in four low-income Washington third graders have untreated tooth decay. This makes it clear that there is already insufficient access to routine dental care. Families who are insured by Apple Health cannot afford further cuts to their dental care.
- Protect Coverage for Immigrant Families Apple Health Expansion (AHE) launched in 2024 to provide Medicaid-like coverage to income eligible adults but are excluded from federal assistance. Even though funding kept roughly 12,000 AHE spaces open in 2025 there are still 25,000 eligible immigrants awaiting coverage. When H.R. 1 passed in July, this number increased by 10,000. In October, this number by up to 30,000. The Governor’s proposed budget decreases enrollment in the program and eliminates dental care despite its importance.
- Continue the DentistLink Public/Private Partnership: $100,000 State Budget, $100,000 Federal Budget DentistLink is a free dental referral service connecting those enrolled in Apple Health or those who lack health coverage with dental care in their communities. While this public/private partnership has increased its number served each year needs remain. Only 20% of Apple Health-insured adults receive dental care each year, continue investments in DentistLink will allow it to serve more residents.
- Expand Dental Care Access at Community Health Centers: $1.95M in capital funding Since 2017, 50 community health centers, supported by the Legislature’s investments, have expanded access to dental care for more than 100,000 patients. However, demand enables Washington’s oral health challenges to persist. This is why we are asking for continued investments to create access for around 7,600 new patients and to provide over 17,800 appointments annually.
- Preserve Existing Oral Health Education Funding The University of Washington School of Dentistry serves as a safety-net oral health provider thanks to investments from the Legislature. Additionally, a $2.505M proviso expanded the RIDE program, which focuses on training dentists to practice in rural and underserved communities, in 2024. Over 80% of RIDE program graduates currently practice in these target areas. This school is also home to the UW Dentistry DECOD clinic which is funded via a Health Care Authority partnership. This clinic treats patients with developmental disabilities. Losing this funding would be devastating to these vulnerable populations.
- Explore Ways to Build a Sustainable, Adequate and Representative Dental Workforce Our state’s dental workforce challenges require a policy response that addresses education accessibility and opportunities to advance, workforce retention, and geographic distribution of the workforce among other key considerations. We hope to explore these solutions during the interim.