Congress expands health care access for people with developmental disabilities

What it does

This bill expands federal health center funding and services specifically for people with developmental disabilities. It adds individuals with developmental disabilities to the definition of 'medically underserved populations' eligible for federal health center grants, requires grantee health centers to provide specialized services including dental care, and authorizes $15 million annually through 2030 to support these expanded services.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is straightforward: it expands federal health center funding and service requirements to include people with developmental disabilities as a priority population. This is a direct public-health appropriation with no hidden carve-outs or immunity grants.

What the text implies

• Health centers receiving grants must now provide specialized dental care for individuals with developmental disabilities, which may require staff training and infrastructure investment not fully captured in the $15M authorization.
• Inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities in health professional shortage area (HPSA) definitions may redirect some federal loan-forgiveness and recruitment incentives away from other underserved populations, though the bill does not explicitly reduce funding for those groups.
• The 'supplement not supplant' language prevents double-dipping but does not guarantee that existing health center funding will be sufficient to meet the new service requirements without additional state or local investment.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill expands access to primary and specialized health care services for a vulnerable population (people with developmental disabilities) with no apparent restrictions on existing services or rights. The funding is new money, not a reallocation that harms other underserved groups.

Who stands to gain

• Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
• Health center networks and consortia
• Dental service providers specializing in developmental disability care

Named in the bill

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), National Health Service Corps, Public Health Service Act Section 330, Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000

Where it stands

16 cosponsors: 14 Democrats, 2 Republicans.

• May 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• May 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

6 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,976,180 in lobbying spend. A filing names 12 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.

Seth Moulton, the sponsor, reported $233,599 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• International Brotherhood of Teamsters — $813,627 on 2 filings
• American Dental Association — $593,780 on 2 filings
• American Academy of Pediatrics — $320,000 on 1 filing
• Special Olympics, Inc. — $160,000 on 1 filing
• American Network of Community Options and Resources — $66,032 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.