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American Dental Education Association

Volume 2, No. 23, September 14, 2021
House Bill Adds Dental Benefit to Medicare

 

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means marked up legislation last week that would to Part B in Medicare. The benefit would begin on Jan. 1, 2028, to allow time to develop the mechanisms and infrastructure to implement the change.

 

Coverage would be provided for preventive and screening services as well as basic and major treatments for tooth restorations, periodontal services and oral disease management. Also included is coverage for bridges, crowns, root canals and dentures.

 

This is the first step in a process before the full House takes up this broad measure, the Build Back Better Act, which includes much of President Biden’s “human infrastructure” plan. Next, the Senate will act on the legislation before sending it the President for his signature.

Biden Announces New COVID-19 Measures

 

President Biden on Sept. 9 that in addition to nursing homes, which are already under a mandatory staff vaccination order, he will require the staff at other health care facilities that treat patients on Medicaid or Medicare to be vaccinated. He did not mention dental school or dental hygiene clinics, but it is very likely they will meet the definition for such a requirement.

 

He also announced that the Department of Labor will soon issue an emergency rule requiring all companies that employ 100 or more persons to mandate that employees be vaccinated and give them paid time off to do so. Employees can also show a weekly COVID-19 test with a negative result instead. Biden also asked that all arenas and other such venues require a vaccine card or negative test result as a condition of entry.

 

He did not mention any higher education measures.
State Legislatures Begin Pre-Filing

 

State legislators will soon begin prefiling bills they would like to have considered during their respective 2022 legislative sessions. ADEA will be tracking those bills as they are filed and keep you informed on their progress.

 

Many legislatures will soon or have already begun following the 2020 decennial census. This process redraws state legislative and Congressional districts in each state based on the new census data. We will inform you of any major developments in these discussions and what those developments might mean for dental education.

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

  • Provider Relief Fund Reporting
  • ADEA regarding vaccines at the state level
  • ADEA on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Schools
  • ADEA policy regarding overprescription of antibiotics
  • For a full list of ADEA memos, briefs and letters click .

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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202-289-7201,

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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