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American Dental Education Association
Volume 3, No. 13, September 26, 2023
Senate HELP Committee Advances Health Workforce Legislation
On a bipartisan vote of 14-7 the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) reported the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act sponsored by Committee Chair U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS).
In his remarks, Sanders noted that according to Louisiana State University, “as many as 59 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes are designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas by the Louisiana Department of Health. . . . More than a third of Louisiana parishes have either no dentist or can count all available providers on one hand.” And that “In Bennington County Vermont, low-income children today are basically unable to get the dental care they need and frankly this is not just Louisiana or Vermont, this is a crisis all over this country.” Nationwide [ [link removed] ] , there are 7,378 dental shortage areas that are home to 74 million people that will require 12,708 new dental professionals to provide access to care.
The bill will provide an increase in the authorization for the Oral Health Training Programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration from $42.4 million in fiscal year (FY) 2023 to $43.7 million in FY 2024, $44.0 million in FY 2025 and $44.3 million in FY 2026.
In addition, the legislation would increase the amount of funding for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) from $4 billion annually to $5.8 billion annually for the next three years. This will allow FQHCs to expand their ability to provide high quality oral health care as well as primary medical care and mental health counseling. In addition, the bill provides a one-time allocation of $3 billion to be used to establish dental operatories so that community health centers can expand their capabilities to provide oral health care.
Other provisions include tripling funding for the National Health Service Corps to $950 million for the next three years and doubles funding for Teaching Health Centers for the same period.
AGR will continue to review and monitor this legislation and report on its progress.
Medicaid Expansion Set to Begin in North Carolina
On Sept. 22, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a budget [ [link removed] ] that included funding for Medicaid expansion. Shortly after it was passed, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced [ [link removed] ] that he would allow the budget to become law without his signature.
Although the state passed a law authorizing Medicaid Expansion in March, implementation of the program was dependent upon funding that needed to be included in the state budget. Infighting among members of the legislature over tax cuts, casinos and pay raises for public employees delayed passage of the budget, which in turn delayed the implementation of the program. An official timetable has not been announced, but the state’s health secretary previously estimated coverage could begin as early as December. It has been estimated Medicaid expansion could provide coverage to around 600,000 people.
ADEA Advocacy in Action
This appears weekly in the ADEA Advocate to summarize and provide direct links to recent advocacy actions taken by ADEA. Please let us know what you think and how we might improve its usefulness.
Issues and Resources
• ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on teledentistry
• ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Schools
• ADEA policy brief [ [link removed] ] regarding overprescription of antibiotics
• For a full list of ADEA memos, briefs and letters click here [ [link removed] ] .
Key Federal Issues [ [link removed] ]
ADEA U.S. Interactive Legislative and Regulatory Tracking Map [ [link removed] ]
Key State Issues [ [link removed] ]
The ADEA Advocate [ [link removed] ] 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.
©2023
American Dental Education Association
655 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20001
Tel: 202-289-7201
Website: www.adea.org [ [link removed] ]
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B. Timothy Leeth, CPA
ADEA Chief Advocacy Officer
Bridgette DeHart, J.D.
ADEA Director of Federal Relations and Advocacy
Phillip Mauller, M.P.S.
ADEA Director of State Relations and Advocacy
Zachary Fessler
ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations
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