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American Dental Education Association

Volume 2, No. 34, December 7, 2021

NOTICE:
 
The Provider Relief Fund portal is open again. The Administration announced [ [link removed] ] that it has begun distributing $7.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments to providers and suppliers who serve rural Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicare beneficiaries. This would include dental schools, dental hygiene programs, and other allied dental programs.

CMS Suspends COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers
 
On Dec. 2, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) suspended [ [link removed] ] implementation and enforcement of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers. CMS communicated the suspension via a memorandum to its State Survey Agency Directors who would be responsible for enforcing the mandate. The suspension will be in effect pending further litigation, more specifically while the injunctions are in effect.
 
Last week, Federal District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana issued a nationwide preliminary injunction [ [link removed] ] , halting implementation of the CMS COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which would have gone into effect this week. The mandate [ [link removed] ] requires all health care workers who work at facilities or offices that participate in the Medicaid and/or Medicare programs to receive at least their first shot by Dec. 6 and to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. The mandate allows exemptions based on religious beliefs or recognized medical conditions.
 
When issuing the preliminary injunction order, Judge Doughty expressed his opinion that mandating vaccines should be done by Congress and not by CMS. He also questioned whether even Congress can mandate vaccination because it may be unconstitutional for Congress to do so.
 
On Nov. 29, one day prior to Judge Doughty’s order, a federal district court judge in Missouri issued [ [link removed] ] a preliminary junction against the CMS vaccine rule. The Missouri preliminary injunction applied only to the 10 states that had filed lawsuits in that court, however, Doughty’s preliminary injunction is effectively a nationwide expansion of the Missouri preliminary injunction.
 
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra requested a stay on the preliminary injunctions in both Missouri and the Western Louisiana federal district courts, but his requests were denied. On Dec. 1, Becerra appealed both injunction orders.

Biden Administration Announces $1.5 Billion Investment in Health Care Workforce
 
Vice President Kamala Harris announced [ [link removed] ] a $1.5 billion invest in the U.S. health care workforce. The funding is part of the coronavirus relief law and will be targeted towards minority communities, rural areas and other underserved communities. It will be used to address the shortage of doctors, nurses and mental health providers in these communities. Much of the funding will provide additional support to the National Health Service Corps, Nurse Corps and substance use disorder treatment and recovery programs, by supporting “over 22,700 providers—the largest field strength in history for these programs and a record number of skilled doctors, dentists, nurses, and behavioral health providers committed to working in underserved communities during a moment when we need them the most,” the announcement said.
 
The investments are part of the Biden administration’s continued response to recommendations of the White House’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which released a final report [ [link removed] WIP11-compressed.pdf ] on Nov. 10.

California Dental Hygiene Board Proposes Rules to Perform Soft Tissue Curettage and Administer Local Anesthesia
 
The California Dental Hygiene Board has proposed a rule [ [link removed] ] that would create requirements for registered dental hygienists in alternative practice (RDHAP) who perform soft tissue curettage and administer local anesthesia. RDHAP were granted authority to perform these procedures in specified settings under a bill passed by the legislature [ [link removed] ] in 2020. The proposed requirements include:
 1. Documenting consultations with a California licensed dentist to authorize the use of these procedures for each patient to be treated,
 2. Requiring the physical presence on the premises of one additional individual trained in basic life support and qualified to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation during an emergency and
 3. Requiring access to portable oxygen administration equipment to assist with administration of basic life support.

Comments on the proposed rule are due by Dec. 27.

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 portal [ [link removed] ]
 • ADEA memo [ [link removed] ] regarding vaccines at the state level
 • ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on teledentistry
 • ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Schools
 • ADEA policy brief [ [link removed] ] regarding overprescription of antibiotics
 • For a full list of ADEA memos, briefs and letters click here [ [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.
 
©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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