Sen. Mark Finchem Appointed Vice Chair of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Adult Oral Health

PHOENIX — Senate President Warren Petersen has appointed Senator Mark Finchem to serve as Vice Chair of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Adult Oral Health, according to a letter of appointment dated September 14, 2026.

The Committee is charged with examining whether the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) should be expanded to cover comprehensive dental care for adults, rather than limiting coverage to emergency care and extractions as it does today. Specifically, the Committee will evaluate the feasibility, cost, long-term fiscal impacts, and public health outcomes of such an expansion.

The Committee’s work will also include analyzing financing models for expanded dental benefits and developing short-term and long-term Medicaid expenditure projections — including dynamic economic modeling of potential cost savings across the medical, behavioral health, and emergency care systems.

I’m grateful to President Petersen for the appointment. My approach here is the same one I bring to every dollar of taxpayer money: show me the numbers. Serving as a firefighter and paramedic, I saw a lot of emergency room visits for problems that were cheaper to fix six months earlier. Before Arizona commits to any expansion of AHCCCS, we owe the people of this state honest, rigorous accounting of what it costs, what it saves, and what it means for the budget. If the modeling shows that treating a tooth early keeps somebody out of the ER and on the job, good. But we’re going to face the math honestly and give Arizona taxpayers the real projections.

Senator Finchem currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Federal Relations Committee and is a member of the Judiciary Committee and the Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee.