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American Dental Education Association

Volume 2, No. 7, April 27, 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.
 
Issues and Resources
 • NHSC Service Loan Repayment Program user guide [ [link removed] ] and application portal [ [link removed] ]
 • ADEA memo [ [link removed] ] regarding vaccines at the state level
 • NIH funding opportunity [ [link removed] ] "Understanding and Addressing the Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Minority Health and Health Disparities"
 • NIDCR funding opportunity [ [link removed] ] "Behavioral and Social Intervention Clinical Trial Planning and Implementation Cooperative Agreement"
 • For a full list of ADEA memos and letters click here [ [link removed] ] .

Kansas Governor Signs Bill to Increase Licensure Reciprocity
 
On April 21, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed a bill [ [link removed] ] that would increase licensure reciprocity in the state. The new law requires licensing boards in the state, including the Kansas Dental Board, to grant licenses to individuals who:
 • Establish residency in the state or intend to establish residency,
 • Hold a license that is in good standing from another jurisdiction that authorizes a similar scope of practice,
 • Have worked for at least one year in the profession in which the license is sought.

Applicants who meet the requirements would be given a probationary license at least 45 days after submitting a complete application that will allow them to practice. (The period is 15 days for a member of the military or a military spouse.) The probationary period is not permitted to last longer than six months, and upon completion of the probationary period, the license will become a non-probationary license.
 
Additionally, when an applicant has not worked in their occupation for the preceding two years, licensing bodies are permitted to require applicants to complete additional testing, training, monitoring or continuing education to establish the applicant’s ability to practice in a manner that protects the public health and safety.
 
Similar legislation was recently signed by the Governor of Mississippi [ [link removed] ] , and in recent years, similar laws have been implemented in Arizona [ [link removed] ] , Iowa [ [link removed] ] and Missouri [ [link removed] ] .

Democrats Reintroduce Prescription Drug-pricing Negotiation Bill
 
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) and Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.) reintroduced the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.
 
The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act would lower the cost of prescription drugs by:
 • Allowing the federal government to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs in Medicare and make those negotiated prices available to commercial health insurance plans,
 • Capping Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year,
 • Requiring drug manufacturers to pay a rebate to the federal government if they increase prices faster than inflation and
 • Reinvesting federal cost-savings in the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to support research and development of new breakthrough treatments and cures, as well as making investments in combatting the opioid crisis.

In 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the price negotiation provisions in the bill would save the federal government $456 billion over 10 years.

CDC Releases Report on Post-vaccine, COVID-19 Infections
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report showing that about 5,800 people tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks or more after they completed both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.
 
Of these breakthrough infections, 40% were in people ages 60 or older and 65% occurred in women. Of those who tested positive, 29% exhibited no symptoms, 7% were hospitalized and 1%—74 people— died, according to the CDC.
 
The CDC will focus on genetically sequencing samples from patients who test positive for the coronavirus post-vaccination to determine if variants are causing breakthrough cases.
 
A little over 89,000,000 people were fully vaccinated in the United States as of April 23.

New Jersey Governor Signs Bill That Requires Co-prescribing
 
On April 19, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a bill [ [link removed] ] that requires prescribers to co-prescribe under certain circumstances an opioid antidote when prescribing an opioid drug that is a controlled dangerous substance. Under the new law, those certain circumstances are when:
 • A patient has a history of substance use disorder,
 • A prescription is for a daily dose of more than 90 morphine milligram equivalents or
 • A patient holds a current, valid prescription for a benzodiazepine drug that is a Schedule III or IV controlled dangerous substance.

Similar policies have been adopted in other states [ [link removed] ] in recent years.

State Medicaid Update
 
Recently, several states have made or have been pursing significant changes to their state Medicaid programs. Brief summaries of some of the most significant developments can be found below:
 • In Missouri [ [link removed] ] , lawmakers have demonstrated resistance to Medicaid expansion despite a voter-approved referendum requiring the state to expand its program. Earlier this month, the state House of Representatives voted to redirect funding [ [link removed] ] that was set aside for the expansion to other social welfare programs. Although a compromise was proposed in the state Senate to partially restore the funding, the compromise was rejected by a Senate committee.
 • In Texas [ [link removed] ] , the state House of Representatives recently voted down a plan that would have led to Medicaid expansion. Although recent previous efforts to pass Medicaid expansion failed in the Texas Legislature, proponents hoped this year would be different as a handful of Republicans supported the initiative. Additionally, an extension of the state’s Medicaid waiver [ [link removed] ] , which helps the state reimburse hospitals for uncompensated care, was rescinded by the Biden administration on the grounds that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services erred in exempting the state from the normal public notice process before granting the extension.
 • In Arkansas [ [link removed] ] , legislators voted to keep their Medicaid expansion program for another year. Funding for the program was uncertain [ [link removed] ] after the state House Representatives voted to reject the funding on several previous occasions.
 • Finally, in Oklahoma [ [link removed] ] , Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) plan to privatize the state’s Medicaid system is facing stiff opposition from the state legislature. On April 20, the state House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill [ [link removed] ] that would create a managed care program run by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority instead of private companies. That bill will now be sent to the state Senate for consideration.

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] ]

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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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