The HEADs UP Act of 2025 expands federal health center funding and grants to specifically include and support comprehensive primary and dental care services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Seth Moulton
Representative
MA-6
The HEADs UP Act of 2025 aims to expand access to primary and dental healthcare for individuals with developmental disabilities. It revises federal funding criteria to specifically recognize this population as medically underserved, allowing health centers to qualify for enhanced support. The bill authorizes dedicated federal grants for health centers to establish or expand comprehensive services tailored to this community through 2030. This legislation also updates designations for Health Professional Shortage Areas to include these individuals, incentivizing increased staffing.
HEADs UP Act earmarks $15M annually for expanded health and dental care for people with developmental disabilities.
The HEADs UP Act of 2025 is tackling a major gap in healthcare access by focusing specifically on individuals with developmental disabilities. Simply put, this bill amends federal health law to officially recognize people with developmental disabilities as a "special medically underserved population." This change is huge because it unlocks funding and incentives for health centers to better serve this group.
Access Unlocked: Who Gets Counted Now
Right now, federal funding for community health centers (known as Section 330 grants) prioritizes medically underserved areas. This bill, found in SEC. 2, expands the criteria for who counts as underserved. Previously, this definition included residents of public housing; now, individuals with a developmental disability are formally added. For a parent of a child with a developmental disability, or for an adult managing their own care, this means the local health center is now incentivized to staff up and tailor services to their specific needs. It recognizes that specialized care isn't just about location, but about the specific challenges a population faces.
The $15 Million Boost for Specialized Care
The most tangible change is the money. The bill authorizes $15 million annually from Fiscal Year 2026 through 2030 specifically for new grants. These grants go to existing health centers so they can either create new sites or expand current operations solely to serve people with developmental disabilities. Critically, these services must be comprehensive and must include specialized dental care. Dental care is often a massive hurdle for this population, requiring specific training and accommodations. This provision aims to fix that.
There’s a smart catch built into the funding: centers must use this grant money to add to the services they already offer. They can’t just take the federal money and cut back on their existing budget for this population. This is meant to ensure the $15 million is truly an expansion of care, not a replacement for current spending—a detail that will require careful oversight to enforce, but is essential for making sure the money actually improves access.
Staffing Incentives for Shortage Areas
This legislation also impacts how the government designates Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). By including individuals with developmental disabilities in the underserved calculation, areas serving this population are more likely to be designated as high-need. Why does this matter? HPSA designation often unlocks incentives for medical professionals, like loan repayment programs, to move to and work in those areas. For a health center struggling to find a dentist trained to work with patients with complex needs, this change could be the difference between filling that position and leaving it vacant. It’s a quiet but effective way to improve the quality and availability of specialized staff where it’s needed most.