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CMS Oral Health Initiative Provides Update on Policy Changes
Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated
its Strategic Plan to include a new Cross-cutting Initiative (CCI) on Oral Health. CMS's CCIs are the mechanisms and means to advance CMS's priorities under its six strategic pillars:
- Advance equity
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Expand access
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Engage partners
- Drive innovation
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Protect programs
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Foster excellence
Previously, CMS identified 12 CCIs in which it would pursue its six pillars, including rural health, benefit expansion and data transformation. Through this new Oral Health CCI, CMS will implement policy changes and consider opportunities through existing authorities to expand access to oral health coverage.
According to CMS, its Oral Health CCI, led by the CMS Chief Dental Officer, seeks to:
- Achieve equal access to oral health care;
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Eliminate persistent oral health disparities;
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Expand access to oral health services;
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Foster collaborative engagement with stakeholders; and
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Use data analytics and innovation to inform policy priorities.
Last
week, the Oral Health CCI released a three-page fact sheet
detailing some of the things the CCI has done to implement policy changes, and to expand and improve access to oral health. The fact sheet also provides links to oral health analytics released by CMS.
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House Holds Hearing on “Restoring Public Trust” in the CDC
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing
regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) titled, “Are CDC’s Priorities Restoring Public Trust and Improving the Health of the American People?” Witnesses included:
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Karen Hacker, M.D., M.P.H., Director, CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion;
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Allison Arwady, M.D., M.P.H., Director, CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control;
- Daniel Jernigan, M.D., M.P.H., Director, CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases;
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Demetre Daskalakis, M.D., M.P.H., Director, CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases;
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Henry Walke, M.D., M.P.H., Director, CDC’s Office of Readiness and Response; and
- Jennifer Layden, M.D., Ph.D., Director, CDC’s Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology.
During the hearing, Republicans acknowledged the positive role the CDC has historically played in the United States, even crediting them for their efforts to support opioid abuse. But they also noted the American people’s lack of trust and faith in the CDC.
The primary theme of the Republican line of questioning was that the CDC was focused less on its mission than on smoking, structural racism and gun violence. Republicans believe that none of these issues relate to CDC’s core mission. Additionally, concern was also expressed about taxpayers’ return on investment in the CDC. It was suggested that programs should be reviewed and those that did not provide the requisite return on investment should be eliminated. In short, the CDC as an organization needs to be streamlined.
One Republican line of questioning was cause for particular concern. After CDC directors were asked to explain the difference between the CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a follow-up question pondered whether combining the CDC and NIH could be an option, since their work “seems to overlap in areas."
Democrats were generally supportive of the CDC and focused on the $1.8 billion in proposed cuts from the CDC’s fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget, which was 22% less than FY 2024. They noted that the CDC is already understaffed, underfunded and that ending programs, such as the HIV initiatives and eliminating the Center for Injury Prevention—both of which are in the FY 2025 budget—would only hurt the public health infrastructure.
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Missouri Medicaid Now Provides Coverage of Routine Dental Exams for Adults
On July 1, Missouri’s Medicaid program announced that it will now provide coverage of routine dental exams for adults. The state will now cover two examinations per calendar year, which it will reimburse at the rate of $48.80. The state has been gradually expanding dental benefits and increasing reimbursement rates over the last decade.
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Ohio Joins Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact
On July 24, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed legislation that allows Ohio to join the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact.
The compact is currently in the implementation phase. Participating states can take steps toward forming the Compact Commission, which will oversee the compact's implementation. Each participating state will have one Commissioner selected by each state’s licensing authority.
Following implementation, the compact will create a pathway to licensure portability for dentists and dental hygienists who are licensed in member states. Licensees who live in states that are compact members can apply for a “compact privilege” that will allow them to practice in another member state. Under the model compact that was written by The Council for State Governments, license holders will be granted the opportunity to apply for compact privilege if they do the following:
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Hold a license as a dentist or dental hygienist;
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Graduate from a Commission on Dental Accreditation-accredited program;
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Successfully complete a clinical assessment for licensure, with “clinical assessment” currently defined as an examination or process required for licensure as a dentist or dental hygienist, as applicable, that provides evidence of clinical competence in dentistry or dental hygiene;
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Pass a National Board Examination of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations or another examination accepted, by rule, as a requirement for licensure;
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Meet any jurisprudence requirements;
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Complete a criminal background check;
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Submit an application and pay applicable fees; and
- Comply with requirements to submit specified information for administrative purposes.
The compact has been adopted by 10 states and legislation to join the compact is currently active in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The legislation signed by Gov. DeWine also included reforms to insurers dictating rates dentists are permitted to charge for non-covered services.
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