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American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 63, May 27, 2020

ADEA Advocacy in Action

This is a new feature that will appear 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.

 

Lost Clinic Revenue—Provider Relief Fund

May 1 – Joint with the Partnership for Medicaid on fund reimbursement for Medicaid providers.

April 30 – Joint with ADHA on availability of reimbursement from Fund.

April 17 – Joint with the Organized Dentistry Coalition urging HHS to include dentists in the Provider Relief Fund eligibility for lost revenue reimbursement.

March 26 – ADEA letters to.

 

Other COVID Issues

April 21 – Joint with the American Council on Education to Congressional leaders asking that Federal emergency student aid not be considered as income.

 

Dental School COVID Related Capital Needs

May 13 – ADEA letter to and (D-NJ) about infrastructure improvements and modernization funds for dental schools,

 

2019 Graduate Licensure

April 9 – ADEA to National Governors Association.

 

For a full list of ADEA Letters and Policy Memos, click .
CDC Releases Additional Re-opening Guidelines

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a more extensive and detailed re-opening last week. The 60-page document was initially shelved by the Trump administration because the guidance was deemed too specific. The guidance provides a six phase, re-opening process and requires a 14-day consecutive reduction in confirmed cases as the required trigger to enter Phase 1. The CDC also lays out six gating indicators which determine when it’s appropriate to move from one phase to the next. Before and during the re-opening, the guidance stresses the importance and need to establish an expansive testing, monitoring and tracing program capable of quickly containing any uptick in the spread of coronavirus.

 

Though most of the guidance was unchanged from the original 68-page document originally submitted to the White House, this new guidance does contain some revisions ordered by the White House. Specifically, the section providing updated information for houses of worship was deleted in the newly released version. Discussions between the White House and CDC on the guidance for houses of worship is ongoing.

 

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield testified at a U.S. Senate hearing on May 12 that updated guidance for dental facilities would be released soon. The CDC subsequently released a on May 12, saying that “CDC is working to update its COVID-19 guidance for dental settings in preparation for resuming care.” However, the guidance was not included in the newly released CDC document.

 

The was released on April 27.

Four More States Temporarily Revise Initial Licensure Requirements

 

On May 13, the State Board of Dental Examiners issued a proclamation declaring it will temporarily accept results from the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) clinical exam using the CompeDont™ tooth. Acceptance of the CompeDont exam will remain in effect during the declared state of emergency, unless the Board issues a subsequent order determining that acceptance is no longer necessary to protect the public, health, safety and welfare of the citizens of North Carolina.

 

will now offer a Dental Resident Limited License to dental students who have graduated from a Commission on Dental Accreditation- (CODA-) approved dental program and are enrolled to begin a CODA-approved residency program or a Master’s level clinical degree program at a CODA-accredited dental school. This license will allow hospital-based residents to gain licensure in order to obtain hospital privileges necessary to begin residency programs.

 

The Dental Board issued an emergency rule creating a limited, temporary dental license that will allow holders of the license to practice under the direct supervision of a Missouri-licensed dentist. Under the rule, a limited temporary dental license is valid for 90 days from the date it is issued, and at the completion of the 90-day period, the board may renew the license for an additional 90 days. The rule also requires supervising dentists to check the work performed by a limited, temporary dental license holder prior to a patient being discharged.

 

On April 21 and May 5, the Board of Dentistry passed motions to allow dental students who have passed the written and manikin components of the Commission on Dental Competency Assessment (CDCA) exam to apply for licensure. The Board will also accept results from a manikin exam from any other regional testing agency. This decision only applies to applications for initial licensure received in 2020.

 

Dental hygiene students in Minnesota may apply for a “conditional license,” if they have not yet passed a Board-approved clinical exam. An applicant would need to have passed the written component of the Western Regional Examining Board (WREB) or CDCA exam to apply for a license, with the condition of passing either the WREB or CDCA’s patient or manikin component within six months of the date the license was issued. This decision only applies to applications for initial licensure received in 2020.
Washington State Sues U.S. Department of Education Over DACA COVID-19 Student Aid

 

Washington state became the second entity to sue Education Secretary Betsey DeVos for prohibiting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) students’ access to COVID-19 emergency student financial aid grants. California’s community colleges were the first to file suit against DeVos due to the prohibition.

 

Washington states’s argues that the Department of Education’s (ED) restrictions violated the Administrative Procedure Act because ED exceeded its statutory authority and lacked any reasoning or explanation. The lawsuit also asserts that the Department violated Article I of the Constitution, which gives exclusive “power of the purse” to Congress. Washington state also filed a for a preliminary injunction asking the court to lift the prohibition. At issue is access to $6 billion in direct COVID-19 emergency student financial aid grants.

 

ED asserts that its decision to prohibit DACA students access to the grants is within the bounds of the law. ED notes that universities are not prohibited from funding grants for DACA students using their own institutions’ private funds.

 

In April 2020, ED that DACA students and international students are not eligible for COVID-19 emergency student financial aid grants. The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) gave ED broad discretion on how to distribute funds. 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.

COVID-19’s Impact on State Budgets May Lead to Cuts in Higher Education Spending

 

The economic slowdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on state budgets across the United States. In some states, declining revenue has left holes in budgets that are expected to be , while in others, those holes can be in the .

 

Unlike the federal government, states are not permitted to go into debt, and every year. This has left many states in a position where they are forced to make cuts to budgets that were based on revenue projections that looked strong at the beginning of the year. When states are forced to make cuts, they often turn to categories where they spend the most. Generally, the three highest spending categories for states are Medicaid, K-12 education and higher education. While cuts to all three categories are likely, than the other two, as spending on K-12 and Medicaid is often mandatory, while higher education expenditures tend to be discretionary.

 

A number of states have already or plan cuts to higher education spending. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has proposed a $1.7 billion cut to higher education. Ohio plans to cut $117 million from its higher education budget, while in , the state’s Joint Budget Committee cut $493 million from next year’s higher education budget. The impact of the cuts in Colorado will be softened by Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) order to direct $450 million from the federal Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to the state’s public institutions. But even with the federal funding, one official in the state claimed that institutions of higher education may still be facing a 5% cut in funding.

 

The may be able to reduce these cuts through a second stimulus bill. The most obvious example of this comes from , where the state’s recently passed budget includes a 10% reduction in spending on higher education. The reduction will not be implemented, however, if the state receives additional assistance from the federal government to help balance its budget.
ADEA Offers Webinars on New Title IX Regulations’ Impact on Higher Education

 

ADEA’s Access, Diversity and Inclusion (ADI) Department, in conjunction with ADEA’s Advocacy and Government Relations (AGR) Department, have developed a series of free webinars on the recently released Title IX regulation changes.

 

The first webinar in the series, The New Title IX Regulations and the #MeToo Movement in Dental Education, will be held on June 1 from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Participants can . The webinar description is below:

 

Incidents of campus stalking, sexual assault, interpersonal violence and gender-based harassment have increasingly been the subject of news reports, billion-dollar settlements and discussions in recent years. Internal and external drivers—along with social movements, such as MeToo, Times Up and the Weinstein/Cosby effect—and concern about the previous administration’s Title IX guidance, are also impacting campus communities with calls for greater accountability. National discussions regarding the new Title IX regulations by the Department of Education has spurred much debate within higher education.

 

Title IX is a U.S. federal law that states that no person in the United States should be discriminated against on the basis of sex in any educational programs or activities that receive federal funding. For Canada, Title IX is similar to the Canadian Human Rights Act and Bill 132: The Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, which protects employees and students from sexual harassment.

 

This webinar focuses on the anticipated impact of the new Title IX regulations on dental education and higher education communities. Examples of best practices related to the implementation of the new Title IX regulations and sexual harassment prevention will be highlighted.

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