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American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 92, December 22, 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.
 
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
 
Other COVID Issues
Nov 30 – Sign-on letter [ [link removed] ] regarding Voices of the Pandemic
Nov 20 – ADEA letter [ [link removed] ] to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
Nov 20 – Joint letter [ [link removed] ] in support of Borrower Relief extension
 
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] ] .

FDA Approves Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
 
One week after approving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted [ [link removed] ] an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Like the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna’s vaccine is also made of genetic material called messenger RNA. In clinical trials, the Moderna vaccine proved 94% effective, and it requires two shots given four weeks apart. The vaccine is approved only for people 18 and older. Moderna’s initial clinical trials did not include people under the age of 18 and pregnant women. However, this month, Moderna began a pediatric clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine. Data from the clinical trials will not be available until next year.
 
The FDA’s approval came within 24 hours of its vaccine advisory panel approving the vaccine by 20 votes to one abstention. One person abstained [ [link removed] ] because he felt that “a blanket statement for individuals 18 years and older is far too broad.” He would have preferred the EUA statement be more tailored to a particular population, such as the COVID-19 high-risk group.
 
The federal government began shipping out 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 20, with deliveries to states, hospitals and long-term care homes starting Dec. 21. Because Moderna’s vaccine requires two doses, the federal government is holding the second doses for shipment four weeks after the first shipment. The federal government is also reserving more than 500,000 doses in case of shipment problems.

Massachusetts Governor Uses Line-item Veto Power to Strike Expanded Medicaid Adult Dental Benefits
 
On Dec. 14, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) returned his veto message [ [link removed] ] to the Massachusetts General Court. The message included details regarding line-item cuts and reductions made by the Governor. Included among them were $19 million in funding earmarked for expanding dental benefits, such as endodontic and prosthodontic services for adults enrolled in Medicaid. Overall, the Governor cut $166.7 million included in the budget passed by the legislature [ [link removed] ] that he viewed as “not necessary in this environment, or a lower priority than other competing needs.”

Ohio Governor Signs Bill Increasing Regulation of Mobile Dental Facilities
 
Las week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed a bill [ [link removed] ] that requires operators of mobile dental facilities (MDF) to provide patients with information regarding their care. Specifically, the bill requires operators of a MDF to provide patients:
 • A list of services provided,
 • Recommendations for further care,
 • The name of the individual who arranged care for the patient,
 • A phone number for the mobile facility that can be used in case of emergency,
 • A notice that the facility must provide patients access to their dental records and
 • Instructions for accessing those records or requesting a transfer.

The legislation also requires licensed dentists who operate MDFs to comply with new notification requirements to the Ohio State Dental Board. Under the bill, operators of a MDF would be required as part of their biennial registration to inform the State Dental Board that they operate a MDF, as well as any change in the address, phone number or operating status of the facility. The bill also authorizes the State Dental Board to take disciplinary action for failure to comply with any of the notification requirements.
 
According to the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Scott Lipps (R), the bill was necessary to increase access to dental records for patients of MDFs. In a 2019 interview [ [link removed] ] , State Rep. Lipps said that some patients treated by these clinics have trouble contacting the clinics and accessing their records after care is provided.

CDC Releases New Guidance on Quarantine Time
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidance [ [link removed]. ] on the amount of time an individual should quarantine if exposed to COVID-19. The initial guidance recommended 14 days of quarantine. This has been changed to 10 days of quarantine without taking a COVID-19 test and to seven days of quarantine, but only if the individual tests negative for COVID-19 on day five or later.
 
The CDC hopes the revised guidance will make it easier for people to quarantine and lessen the stress on the already overburdened public health system. Finally, the CDC notes that local health departments ultimately make the final decision regarding length of quarantine, depending on local COVID-19 conditions.

FY 2021 Appropriations and COVID-19 Relief Legislation Near Passage
 
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate negotiators have reached an agreement and President Trump has said he will sign legislation that includes an Omnibus Appropriations bill that encompasses all 12 funding measures for fiscal year 2021 and an Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act.
 
At press time, the final text of these two bills had not been made publicly available. When the Congress completes action and the President signs the legislation, ADEA will include information on the results at the ADEA Advocacy website [ [link removed] ] . The following summary is based on the best information gathered as of Dec. 21.
 
The House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies portion of the appropriations bill, which contains those programs of most interest to dental education, is believed to be finished or nearly complete. The funding levels are as follows:
 
 • Both the House and Senate included $40.7 million for the Oral Health Training Program and ADEA is therefore confident that this will be the final funding level. This includes $12 million set aside for both Pediatric Dental residencies and General Dentistry residencies, as well as $2 million of the Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program.
 • The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research is funded at $481.5 million in the House bill and $493.2 million in the Senate bill. Both are increases above the fiscal year (FY) 2020 level of $477 million. ADEA has informed the committees that ADEA and other dental groups prefer the higher Senate number.
 • The only source of concern is the Health Career Opportunity Program which the House funded at $15 million and Senate did not fund. Again, ADEA and other organizations have informed negotiators of the preference for the House’s appropriation number.

The latest version available of the COVID-19 emergency relief bill includes $35 billion for the Provider Relief Fund established in The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to reimburse health care providers for lost revenue during the public health emergency. It sets aside $7 billion of this amount for rural providers and $1 billion for tribal organizations providing health services. There are provisions that may help dental schools to receive this long-denied assistance. Those provisions permit health systems to move targeted distributions within its system and includes language concerning parent and subsidiary relationships. ADEA has requested clarification of the meaning of these provisions if they should become law but has not yet received a response.
 
The bill also includes $22.7 billion for the Higher Education Relief Fund. Of this $20 billion to be distributed to public and private nonprofit institutions, $908 million will go to for-profit colleges for financial aid to students; $1.7 billion to historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and minority-serving institutions; and $113.5 million for institutions “with the greatest unmet needs and those not served by the primary formula, such as independent graduate schools.”

New York Governor Signs Bill Requiring Parity for Standards of Care in Teledentistry
 
On Dec. 15, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed identical companion bills that require dental telehealth services to adhere to the standards of “appropriate patient care required in other dental health care settings.” Specifically, S7879 [ [link removed] ] and A10034 [ [link removed] ] require parity with regards to, but not limited to, appropriate patient examination, taking of radiographs and reviewing of a patient’s medical and dental history. The bills also require dental telehealth providers to identify themselves to patients by providing their state license number. Finally, dental telehealth providers are also prohibited from attempting to waive liability for telehealth services in advance of delivering services and are prohibited from attempting to prevent a patient from filing a complaint with a governmental agency or authority.
 
The bill appears to be aimed at self-applied treatment for orthodontia and has some similarities with legislation passed by California [ [link removed] ] in 2019. According to the bill’s sponsor, the legislation is necessary to protect the public from “unqualified telehealth providers taking advantage of the public and causing harm to patients by failing to adhere to recognized standards of care.”

Happy Holidays from the ADEA Advocate! The Advocate will be taking a holiday break the next two weeks. We will publish the Advocate again on Jan. 12, 2021. See you again next year! Happy New Year!

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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