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American Dental Education Association
Volume 3, No. 16, October 17, 2023
Senate HELP Committee Will Hold Confirmation Hearing for NIH Director
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Dr. Monica Bertagnolli. In June 2023, President Biden nominated Dr. Bertagnolli [ [link removed] ] to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH) succeeding Dr. Francis Collins, who served as NIH Director for more than a decade. The hearing is set for Oct. 18. If confirmed, Dr. Bertagnolli would be the second woman to serve as NIH’s permanent director.
Dr. Bertagnolli’s nomination has been held up for a variety of reasons, ranging from the Chairman of the HELP Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders’, refusal to move the nomination forward until he received the administration’s comprehensive plan on lowering drug prices, to the Republicans’ concerns over what they considered to be NIH’s lack of transparency surrounding the origins of COVID-19 and the agency’s response to the pandemic.
Dr. Bertagnolli is a surgical oncologist and cancer researcher who currently serves as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the first woman to serve as NCI Director. At NCI, Dr. Bertagnolli has worked to further President Biden’s Moonshot Cancer Initiative. Previously, she served as the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery in surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment and Sarcoma Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, all in Boston.
The confirmation hearing can be viewed here [ [link removed] ] on Oct. 18 at 10:00 a.m. ET.
DEA Issues Additional Extension of the PHE Telehealth Prescribing Flexibilities Until Dec. 31, 2024
The Drug Enforcement Administration [ [link removed] ] (DEA) issued a second temporary rule [ [link removed] ] extending the allowance for physicians and practitioners to prescribe controlled medications to new patients based on a relationship solely established through telemedicine (live video or telephone for buprenorphine) until Dec. 31, 2024. The extension will give the DEA time to consider permanent changes to their rules around prescribing controlled substances moving forward.
The allowance for prescribing controlled substances based on a telemedicine interaction with no prior in-person exam was initially set to end in May 2023, but under a first temporary rule was extended until Nov. 11, 2023. Under this new second temporary rule, the allowance will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2024.
This decision comes after receiving 38,000 comments in response to two proposed rules (here [ [link removed] ] and here [ [link removed] ] ), which addressed the prescribing of controlled substances based on a telehealth encounter after the conclusion of the public health emergency (PHE). The proposed regulations would allow for prescribing a 30-day supply of “Schedule III-V non-narcotic controlled medications” and “buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder” via telehealth with no prior in-person exam. However, in order to receive more than a 30-day supply, patients who are receiving prescriptions for non-narcotic controlled medications from a provider they have never seen in person will need to have at least one in-person appointment after the PHE ends to continue receiving their prescriptions.
Advocates complained that the DEA’s proposals were “more restrictive than is warranted” and would hinder access to care, particularly for individuals with substance use disorder who started treatment during the PHE. In response to the overwhelming number of comments, in September the DEA conducted listening sessions to allow medical practitioners, patients, pharmacy professionals, industry members, law enforcement and other third parties to express their views.
California Governor Signs Multiple Bills
Before adjourning in September, the California State Legislature sent several bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that could have an impact on dentistry and dental education in the state. Last week, Gov. Newsom took action on several of those bills.
AB 936 [ [link removed] ] will allow any dental student who has begun clinical training to practice dentistry at free health care events. Current law only allows dental students in their final year to provide care at these events. The bill also adds a clarification that for any clinical procedures, the designated supervising faculty is responsible for assessing the patient treated by a student and determining if the assigned student has the skill level necessary to provide care to that patient. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature with unanimous support.
SB 770 [ [link removed] ] could eventually lead to a unified health care financing system. Under the bill, the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency would be required to pursue discussions with the federal government to obtain a waiver that would allow the creation of a unified health care financing system. This unified system would provide comprehensive medical, behavioral health, pharmaceutical, dental and vision benefits. A more detailed summary was provided in the July 18 issue [ [link removed] ] of the ADEA Advocate.
AB 1048 [ [link removed] ] prohibits dental insurers from imposing a dental waiting period (a contract provision that limits coverage for a specified period of time following an enrollee’s effective date of coverage) and provisions that exclude or limit coverage for a preexisting condition. The bill also requires dental insurers to report to the state specified information related to rates (including rate increases), changes in benefits, changes in administrative costs, loss ratio and other factors. State regulatory agencies would then be required to review submitted information and determine if a rate change is unreasonable or unjustified. The bill was supported by the California Dental Association, which has stated the legislation will provide insight [ [link removed] ] into the methods dental insurers are using to set rates.
AB 1257 [ [link removed] ] will make graduates of the state’s dental hygiene programs eligible for licensure upon graduation. Under the bill, anyone who has graduated from a California-accredited program that has also been approved by the Dental Hygiene Board of California within the last three years, will be eligible to apply for a license as a registered dental hygienist.
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
Varsha Menon
ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations
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