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American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 84, November 3, 2020

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.
 
Lost Clinic Revenue
Provider Relief Fund portal [ [link removed] ] and user guide [ [link removed] ]
August 11 – ADEA letter [ [link removed] ] regarding Dental School Clinic Reimbursement
 
Other COVID Issues
Sep 22 – Joint letter [ [link removed] ] regarding authorization of dental professionals to administer vaccine
Sep 4 – ADEA Comments [ [link removed] ] on Equitable Distribution of Vaccines
Aug 5 – Joint letter [ [link removed] ] regarding COVID-19 Loan Programs
 
Dental School COVID Related Capital Needs
Sep 25 – Joint letter [ [link removed] ] in Support of Supplemental COVID-19 Relief
Aug 5 – Joint letter [ [link removed] ] Regarding Institutional Aid
 
Additional Resources
ADEA webinar [ [link removed] ] on State Advocacy
NHSC Service Loan Repayment Program user guide [ [link removed] ] and application portal [ [link removed] ]
For a full list of ADEA Letters and Policy Memos, click here [ [link removed] ] .

Federal Government Will Cover Costs of Administering COVID-19 Injections
 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new regulations [ [link removed] ] that will ensure that every person has access to a COVID-19 vaccine, free of charge. Under the new regulations, the vaccine would be considered a preventive vaccine and Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers would all be reimbursed for the cost of physically injecting someone with the vaccine. If two doses are required, Medicare will pay more for the second.
 
These regulations implement provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which was passed earlier this year. The legislation allocated funding to cover the costs of buying vaccines that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the cost of administering the vaccine. These regulations accomplish that by:
 1. Removing regulations that prevented Medicare from covering the costs of vaccines approved by the FDA under the Emergency Use Authorization approval process,
 2. Providing funding for private insurers to cover both in- and out-of-network providers who administered the vaccine,
 3. Instructing state Medicaid agencies to provide vaccine administration with no cost sharing for most beneficiaries during the public health emergency and
 4. Reimbursing providers through the Provider Relief Fund for administering the COVID-19 vaccine to individuals without insurance.

These regulations are effective throughout the course of the public health emergency, after which cost-sharing rules may be reviewed.

California Extends Time for Oral Health Professionals to Complete Initial Licensure Exam and CE Requirements
 
The California Department of Consumer Affairs recently issued two waivers that will give oral health professionals more time to complete exam requirements for initial licensure as well as continuing education (CE) requirements necessary for renewing a license. On Sept. 30, the Department issued a waiver [ [link removed] ] that will grant dentists, registered dental assistants, orthodontic assistants, dental sedation assistants and registered dental assistants whose applications are deemed abandoned between March 31, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2020, an additional six months to complete the examination.
 
On Oct. 22, the department issued a waiver extension [ [link removed] ] for CE requirements. Licensed professionals in the state whose active license expires between March 31, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, will now have until April 2021 to complete CE requirements.

Labor Department Amends Prevailing Wage Rule for H1-B Visas
 
The Department of Labor (DOL) published an interim final rule [ [link removed] ] (IFR) that restructures the methodology for computing prevailing wage levels for foreign worker programs in the H1-B visa program. The DOL IFR takes effect immediately.
 
Specifically, this new regulation changes the way DOL will compute wage levels under the Department’s four-tiered, wage structure based on the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) wage survey administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The four-tiered wage structure represents the range of skills from entry level to experienced.
 
The new wage structure will significantly increase OES prevailing wage minimums for foreign workers at all four levels of skill and experience. For example, the new rule will increase the entry-level wage minimum for Skill Level 1 to the 45th percentile of the average wage of their profession’s category; under current rules, the wage minimum is set at the 17th percentile. Skill Levels 2, 3 and 4 increase to the following percentiles respectively—62nd, 78th and 95th.
 
Dental schools use H1-B visas for foreign faculty and foreign students to transition into these visas upon graduation. Having to meet increased prevailing wage requirements to secure H1-B visas could negatively impact dental schools’ ability to secure foreign faculty as well as negatively impact foreign students’ employment prospects.

Indiana Granted 10-year Extension of Alternative Medicaid Expansion Program
 
On Oct. 26, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) announced [ [link removed] ] that the state had received a 10-year extension of its Medicaid expansion waiver. The extension of this Section 1115 waiver [ [link removed] ] is unusual, as states typically receive a three- to four-year extension. This is the first time a state has received waiver approval for this length of time.
 
Indiana’s Medicaid Expansion program was first implemented [ [link removed] ] under a Section 1115 waiver in 2015. By implementing under a waiver, the state is permitted to implement experimental, pilot or demonstration projects that are approved by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and found by the Secretary to be likely to assist in promoting the objectives of the Medicaid program.
 
For information about similar waivers in other states, please refer to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Medicaid Waiver Tracker [ [link removed] ] .

ADEA State Calendar [ [link removed] ]

ADEA Washington Calendar [ [link removed] ]

ADEA U.S. Interactive Legislative and Regulatory Tracking Map [ [link removed] ]

Key Federal Issues [ [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.
 
©2020
American Dental Education Association
655 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20001
202-289-7201, 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
 
Brian Robinson
ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations
 
[email protected] [ [link removed] ]

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