View this email in your browser [ [link removed] ] .

American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 94, January 19, 2021

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] ] .

Trump Administration Reverses Course and Releases Additional Vaccine Dosages
 
To get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible, the Trump administration reversed course [ [link removed] ] on its vaccine distribution and plans to release additional doses. Initially, the Trump administration said it would hold second doses of the vaccines in reserve to ensure that people who received their initial vaccination had a second dosage waiting. However, with the discovery in the United States of the more infectious variant of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom, the administration changed course and now plans to immediately release additional dosages over the next two weeks. Also, by releasing additional dosages, the administration hopes to boost lagging vaccination numbers, because in many states the high demand for the vaccine outpaces the states’ limited supply. Providing additional dosages to the states should solve this problem.
 
The Trump administration’s decision comes after President-elect Biden’s call for the administration to release all vaccines dosages in an effort to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible.

ADEA Shares Concerns with the Biden-Harris Transition Team
 
Earlier this month, ADEA shared two concerns with the incoming Biden-Harris administration. In one memorandum, we shared the difficulties our members have encountered in receiving reimbursement from the Provider Relief Fund [ [link removed] ] . We laid out the history and offered two options to solve the problem.
 
The other memo dealt with ensuring that dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, students and residents are included in the highest priority to receive the COVID vaccine [ [link removed] ] and that these professionals are capable of administering the vaccine in an “all hands on deck” effort to have the widest possible delivery of the vaccine.

New Jersey Permits Dentists to Give COVID-19 Vaccinations
 
Last week’s ADEA Advocate included information about eight states that allow dentists to give vaccinations for COVID-19. Since the time of writing that article, New Jersey has become the ninth state to allow dentists to give the vaccines under an executive directive [ [link removed] ] issued by the state’s Commissioner of Health Judith M. Persichilli. Other states that permit dentists to give the vaccine are Alabama [ [link removed] ] , Arkansas [ [link removed] ] , California [ [link removed] ] , Connecticut [ [link removed] ] , Illinois [ [link removed] ] , Maryland [ [link removed] ] , New York [ [link removed] ] and Oregon [ [link removed] ] . The orders in Connecticut and New York also apply to dental hygienists.

Trump Administration Approves Tennessee Medicaid Block Grant Proposal
 
On Jan. 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a proposal [ [link removed] ] from Tennessee that if implemented, would make Tennessee the first state to receive its Medicaid funding through a block grant. The plan [ [link removed] ] , which was originally submitted in November 2019, would shift Medicaid funding in Tennessee from an open-ended arrangement [ [link removed] ] under which the federal government pays a percentage of the state’s Medicaid costs based on per-capita income, to an arrangement where the federal government provides a fixed amount of funding annually. The approved proposal differs slightly from a traditional block grant program to allow for increased contributions from the federal government during times of growth in the state’s Medicaid population.
 
The current shared-funding arrangement requires states to adhere to conditions established by the federal government, but under a block grant system, there would be fewer conditions to which states must adhere. Proponents of block grants argue that with fewer strings attached to funding, states could use Medicaid more efficiently. But opponents have voiced concerns that the fixed amount of funding could result in reductions in or denial of Medicaid coverage for recipients.
 
Although the plan was approved by CMS, the approval was granted by outgoing Trump administration officials. The incoming Biden administration is likely to take action to reverse the decision [ [link removed] ] , and even if it does not, the decision is likely to face legal challenges as it is unclear if CMS has authority to make such a decision without congressional approval.

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.
 
©2021
American Dental Education Association
655 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20001
202-289-7201, adea.org [ [link removed] ]

twitter
[link removed]

Unsubscribe
[link removed]

Subscribe
[link removed][0]&p_colname=p_last_nm&p_varname=p_val_arr[1]&p_colname=p_alias&p_varname=p_val_arr[2]&p_colname=p_login_id&p_varname=p_val_arr[3]&p_colname=p_passwd&p_context=NEWSLETTER&p_success_url=censsaindprofile.section_update%3Fp_profile_ty%3DINDIVIDUAL_PROFILE%26p_skip_confirm_fl%3DY%26p_section_nm%3DNewsletters%26p_format%3D110%26p_msg_txt%3D%26p_cust_id%3D%26p_referrer%3Dadeacenssalandingpage.display_page%3Fp_context%3DNEWSLETTER

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] ]

Powered by Higher Logic [link removed]