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American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 60, May 5, 2020

Connecticut Temporarily Adds Dentists to Definition of Telehealth Provider

 

On April 22, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) issued an that temporarily added dentists to the definition of “telehealth provider” under the state’s laws. This will allow dentists to provide care under telehealth provisions outlined in of Connecticut statutes for the duration of the state’s public health emergency. This section of state law permits telehealth services to be delivered for the purposes of facilitating the diagnosis, consultation and treatment, education, care management and self-management of a patient’s physical and mental health. Telehealth services must comply with conditions specified in the state statute, which permits providers to communicate with patients through real-time, interactive, two-way communication technology or store-and-forward technologies.

 

According to the , the executive order also waives additional sections of the state’s telehealth statute for Medicaid providers and in-network providers for commercial, fully insured health insurance that covers telehealth services to patients. The additional provisions:

  • Permit providers to engage in telehealth using audio-only telephone,
  • Waive any related regulatory requirement that any telehealth services be provided from a provider’s licensed facility and
  • Permit telehealth providers to use additional information and communication technologies that are HIPAA compliant for telehealth remote communications, as may be modified or revised by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also under the executive order, providers who are not providing services to a Medicaid beneficiary or to a patient under an in-network provider for commercial fully insured health insurance must determine a patient’s telehealth benefits before providing services, accept the reimbursement provided by the health plan as payment in full and, if the patient is unable to pay for services, offer financial assistance to the patient.

 

Finally, the executive order also suspends continuing education requirements for dentists and dental hygienists for one year. It also permits the Commissioner of Connecticut Department of Public Health to suspend the requirements for licensure for dentists and dental hygienists for up to 60 days.
More States Temporarily Revise Initial Licensure Requirements

 

On April 28, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) issued an allowing the state Board of Dentistry to award a provisional license to a candidate for initial licensure as a dentist or dental hygienist who has not yet passed a clinical exam. To be eligible for the provisional license, an applicant must be a 2020 graduate of a dental or dental hygiene program that has been approved by the Board and meet all other requirements for licensure. A provisional license issued under the executive order will expire on Feb. 1, 2021, and will only become a full license after an applicant has passed the required clinical exam. If a candidate fails a clinical exam, the provisional license will be voided.

 

In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) issued an that suspended all provisions in Kansas law or regulation that require health care professionals to take an exam as a condition of licensure or renewal, to the extent the exam’s administration has been cancelled while the state’s emergency declaration is in effect.

DeVos Releases Additional CARES Act Funding for Minority Servicing Institutions

 

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recently released $1.4 billion in funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities. These funds were allocated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and are intended to provide additional support to MSIs, who traditionally have high numbers of low-income students and first-generation college students. Under these grants, universities have significant flexibility in how the funding can be used, as long as it is for coronavirus-related costs. Funding can be used for anything from covering increased technology costs due to distance learning to providing grants to students for coronavirus-related expenses to faculty and staff training arising from distance learning.

 

Universities have until Aug. 1 to access these funds. To quickly disburse the emergency funding, the paperwork normally associated with grant applications has been eliminated. Instead, eligible institutions will have to sign a Certification of Agreement form to access the funding. Additional grant information can be found on the Department of Education’s .

 

In addition to the $1.4 billion, MSIs are eligible for under the CARES Act.

Education Department Determines DACA Students Ineligible for CARES Act Student Aid

 

In response to inquiries from the education community seeking guidance on the disbursement of direct student aid grants authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Department of Education (ED) that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) students and international students are not eligible for CARES Act direct student aid. The CARES Act allocated $31 billion in higher education funding, of which $6 billion in direct student aid grants is to be disbursed by universities.

 

The CARES Act gave ED broad discretion on how to distribute funds, enabling them to quickly get funding to universities and students given the crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. ED chose to use the Higher Education Act’s Title IV eligibility requirements as the standard universities must follow to satisfy CARES Act eligibility for direct student aid grants. Under Title IV eligibility requirements, only U.S. citizens are eligible for federal student aid.

 

Democrats in the U.S. and wrote letters to ED strongly disagreeing with its determination. The Democrats argued that the intent of the broadly worded CARES Act was to provide emergency aid to all students—including DACA and other undocumented students. They also pointed out that the CARES Act funding is an allocation separate and apart from Title IV allocations and, therefore, Title IV eligibility rules should not apply to CARES Act funding.

 

As of yet, ED has not reversed its determination.

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.

 

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American Dental Education Association

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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

 

Brian Robinson

ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations

 

Higher Logic