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American Dental Education Association
Volume 2, No. 42, February 16, 2022
Sixteen States Renew Legal Efforts to Stop Health Care Worker Vaccine Mandate
Sixteen state attorneys general filed a complaint [ [link removed] ] against the Biden administration in yet another attempt to block the federal vaccine mandate for health care workers. The suit filed on Feb. 4 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana asserts that the Delta variant has gone, and that vaccines aren’t as effective against the Omicron variant. Therefore, “simply put, the situation has changed,” the lawsuit says [ [link removed] ] . “And that reveals a fundamental, structural defect in the rule—its one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t account for developing data and circumstances.”
The lawsuit asks the district court to issue an injunction and to stay compliance deadlines pending judicial review.
While the Supreme Court upheld [ [link removed] ] the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) health care worker vaccine mandate, it struck down [ [link removed] ] the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees on the basis that the rule was overly broad and took a “one-size-fits-all” approach. The Court determined that OSHA’s mandate should have been more narrowly tailored to the various industries impacted by its vaccine mandate. It appears that the rationale used in this new lawsuit tries to mirror the rationale used by the Court in the OSHA ruling.
The 16 states represented in the lawsuit are Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. Fourteen of the 16 were plaintiffs in the January 2022 Supreme Court case that upheld the CMS vaccine mandate for health care workers whose facilities participated in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Health care workers in 14 of the 16 states in the lawsuit must receive their first dose by Feb. 14 and their second dose by March 15. Health care workers in in Tennessee and Virginia had a first-dose deadline of Jan. 27 with a full vaccination deadline of Feb. 28.
White House Director of Science and Technology Policy Resigns
Dr. Eric Lander resigned [ [link removed] ] as Director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, which was a cabinet-level position. This was the first time that the position had been to the cabinet-level. Lander was known as one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project and led President Biden’s Moonshot Initiative, which was aimed at cutting cancer deaths by 50% over 25 years.
Rachel Wallace, who served as Dr. Lander’s former general counsel, brought a complaint against him. Lander was accused of bullying staff and demeaning women, in particular. A White House investigation into the complaint found evidence to support Wallace’s claims and discovered other instances of inappropriate behavior. Dr. Lander was subsequently found to be in violation of the Biden administration’s Safe and Respectful Workplace Policy, which led to his resignation.
CDC Seeks Clinical Practice Opioid Prescribing Comments
On Feb. 10, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the opportunity for interested parties to comment on the Proposed 2022 CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids [ [link removed] ] . Comments are due on April 11, 2022. Additional information regarding the proposed practice guideline is available in the Federal Register [ [link removed] ] .
Florida’s Medicaid Dental Carve Out Could Be Moved Back Into State’s Managed Care Plans
A proposal [ [link removed] ] that would make significant changes to Florida’s managed care programs passed a State House of Representatives subcommittee last week despite opposition from the Florida Dental Association [ [link removed] ] and the Florida Hospital Association. If adopted, one of the changes would bring dental care back into the fold of the state’s managed care programs, which is currently managed by three dental providers under a carve out that is separate from other managed care programs. The state’s dental association believes the move could result in barriers [ [link removed] ] that could lead to fewer dentists providing care for Medicaid patients.
The bill would also require plans to improve outcomes and increase use of preventative services. The state Medicaid agency would also be required to establish, regularly assess and publish dental plan performance and outcome measures.
Opposition from the Florida Hospital Association is due to provisions in the bill that would require essential providers, which include faculty plans at Florida medical schools and regional perinatal intensive care centers, to contract with each managed care plans network. Essential providers that lack required contracts could lose supplemental payments.
Proposed Amendment to Missouri Constitution Could Gut State’s Medicaid Expansion
An attempt to gut funding for Missouri’s Medicaid expansion program is moving through the state’s General Assembly. On Feb. 10, a proposed constitutional amendment [ [link removed] ] was passed by the State House of Representatives that, if adopted, would subject the state’s Medicaid expansion program to an annual appropriation by the General Assembly.
Voters in the state approved a ballot measure in 2020 that required expansion of its Medicaid program to individuals who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Despite the ballot measure’s passage, however, some legislators attempted to block funding for the expansion until the state Supreme Court required the legislature to fund the program [ [link removed] ] in July 2021.
Additionally, the proposed amendment would also implement a work requirement for Medicaid enrollees who are part of the expansion population. Similar requirements have been opposed by the current Biden administration [ [link removed] ] and have also been struck down in multiple federal courts [ [link removed] ] .
The proposal will be submitted to the Senate for consideration. If passed by both chambers, the measure will be submitted to voters for their approval.
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] ]
• HRSA Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program [ [link removed] ]
• HRSA New Funding Opportunity [ [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
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