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Health Department seeks $24.2M to sustain Healthy Smiles dental pilot and outlines $207M federal rural-health award
Summary
Commissioner Dunn asked lawmakers to fund $24.2M nonrecurring for the final year of the Healthy Smiles dental pilot, support Ryan White insurance assistance, naloxone purchases and to implement a $207M federal rural health transformation award layered with state capital.
Commissioner Dunn and Department of Health staff presented FY27 cost increases that include a $24,200,000 nonrecurring request to sustain the final year of the Healthy Smiles dental pilot, and a separate state request to continue insurance-assistance funding that complements federal Ryan White resources for about 7,700 Tennesseans living with HIV. "The request is for $24,200,000 nonrecurring," the commissioner said as the department summarized training rotations, service volumes and provider recruitment activity at UT, Meharry and LMU.
Dunn described a portfolio of ARPA-funded investments and a recently awarded $207,000,000 federal rural health transformation grant that the department intends to pair with a $125,000,000 state capital commitment to strengthen rural infrastructure, specialty access, maternal care and workforce pipelines. The department said it is focused on execution, accountability and avoiding sustained state obligations after federal funds expire; members pressed for detail on prior shared-savings spending and metrics to measure pilot success, and department staff said many projects are obligated and that monitoring and reporting would continue.
