View this email .
American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 48, February 11, 2020

Tenn. Governor Calls for Dental Benefits for Pregnant and Post-partum Women Under Medicaid

 

Using his Feb. 3 State of the State address as a platform, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) called for the addition of for pregnant and post-partum women on Medicaid. Under the proposal, eligible women would receive dental benefits while pregnant as well as up to 60 days postpartum, while other Medicaid benefits would be extended for a full year after giving birth. Tennessee currently provides no dental benefits for adults under its Medicaid program.

 

As states begin to address issues related to , dental coverage under Medicaid may be one area of interest. In , a state that dental benefits for pregnant women, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has called for an extension of Medicaid benefits for postpartum women up to a year after birth. Legislation in would also add comprehensive dental benefits under Medicaid for women who are pregnant.

President Submits His FY 2021 Budget

 

On Feb. 10, President Trump submitted his budget requests for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 that begins Oct. 1. At press time, detailed budget justifications for individual federal departments or agencies had not been provided by the administration, but a Summary Table from The White House’s Office of Management and Budget provided some information regarding the legislative and administrative changes that the President will propose to meet his budget estimates. Those that will affect dental education include the following:

 

  • For the U.S. Department of Education ($-5.1 billion):

 

o Eliminate subsidized student loans,

o Eliminate Public Service Loan Forgiveness,

o Establish student loan risk sharing,

o Limit graduate student loan borrowing and

o Make incarcerated students eligible for Pell Grants.

 

  • For the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ($-7.9 billion):

 

o Reform graduate medical education payments,

o Modernize Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to save $8.3 billion,

o Extend the National Health Service Corps through FY 2021 and

o Extend the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education through FY 2021.

 

The details of these proposals will be forthcoming. We will report them and other details in future ADEA Advocate newsletters.
Supreme Court to Decide Whether to Hear ACA Appeal Next Term

 

The Supreme Court has listed for discussion at its the Texas v. United States case, which the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent back to the district court in December. The Supreme Court can decide to hear the case and bypass the lower courts. Private conferences, which occur throughout the Court’s session, are where justices consider what cases they will review and when they will review them.

 

On Dec. 18, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision invalidating the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate, but the court did not address the issue of whether ACA itself remained viable without the individual mandate. Instead, the Court of Appeals returned the case to the lower court to decide if ACA can survive without the individual mandate.

 

The Supreme Court has sent mixed signals about its interest in Obamacare appeals. Last month, the court rejected an appeal by Democratic-led states and lawmakers requesting to expedite its handling of appeals and render a decision before the Supreme Court’s current session ends in June, but the justices also later refused to give Republican opponents extra time to file their brief that argued against review.

 

The combination of those actions put the appeals on track for the Court’s next private conference—and leaves open the possibility the Court could hear the case if not this term, then next term.

New York May Add Dental Anesthesiology to Accredited Residency Programs

 

A in New York would add dental anesthesiology to the list of accredited residency programs in the specialty of dentistry. Under the state’s current policy, a dentist who is not licensed prior to entering a dental anesthesiology training program must complete an additional one-year general practice residency in order to be eligible for licensure in the state. By adding dental anesthesiology to the list of accredited residency programs, students who complete this will not be required to also complete an additional residency in general practice. In New York, all applicants for initial licensure must complete a one-year postdoctoral residency in general practice or complete a specialty dental residency program. Comments on the proposal are due by Feb. 28.

 

On a related note, the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards voted to dental anesthesiology as a dental specialty in March 2019.
Update to ADEA State Opioid Chart Now Available

 

2019 was a busy year for changes to state opioid policies. To help members stay current on changes, an update to ADEA’s chart detailing recently enacted state opioid policies is now available. The chart provides a brief overview of state policies enacted in 2019 to help dental professionals stay up-to-date on recent changes to laws that affect opioid-prescribing practices or other changes of opioid policy that are relevant to academic dentistry. To view recently proposed and enacted legislative and regulatory changes that would impact opioid policy, please visit the ADEA U.S. Interactive and select “Opioids” from the menu. Information on the ADEA interactive map is updated daily.

CMS Proposes Changes to Exchange Subsidy Determination Rules

 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its . The proposal would make changes to standards governing Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant health plans sold on the exchanges in 2021. Several of the changes aim to ensure that the CMS does not provide subsidies to ineligible people.

 

In the notice, the CMS asked for feedback on whether it should end automatic re-enrollment for low-income exchange enrollees who receive $0 premium insurance plans with tax credits. This change would reduce the risk that ineligible enrollees receive federal subsidies, the CMS said.

 

The agency also proposed changes that would clarify that exchanges would not need to re-determine an enrollee’s eligibility for financial subsidies when processing a voluntary termination of exchange coverage for someone who is dually enrolled in other qualifying coverage. Currently, exchanges are required to do a re-determination of benefit eligibility before processing a voluntary termination of exchange coverage.

 

The above changes are only two of the several proposed by CMS. The agency believes these proposed changes will “strengthen and stabilize the insurance market... .”
FINAL NOTICE: dental and craniofacial researchers, oral health advocates, dental educators, students, residents and fellows:

 

Join the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the Friends of National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (FNIDCR) on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, for the 2020 AADR, ADEA and FNIDCR Capitol Hill Day. For Capitol Hill Day registration and information, .

The is published weekly. Its purpose is to keep ADEA members abreast of federal and state issues and events of interest to the academic dentistry and the dental and research communities.

 

©2020

American Dental Education Association

655 K Street, NW, Suite 800

Washington, DC 20001

202-289-7201,

 

twitter
Unsubscribe

B. Timothy Leeth, CPA

ADEA Chief Advocacy Officer

 

Bridgette DeHart, J.D.

ADEA Director of Federal Relations

 

Phillip Mauller, M.P.S.

ADEA Director of State Relations and Advocacy

 

Brian Robinson

ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations

 

Ambika R. Srivastava, M.P.H.

ADEA/Sunstar Americas, Inc./Jack Bresch Legislative Intern

 

Higher Logic