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American Dental Education Association

Volume 2, No. 52, May 3, 2022
Republicans Introduce Bill to End Current Student Loan Repayment Pause

 

Last week, Senate Minority Whip (R-S.D.) and Sens. (R-N.C.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), (R-La.) and (R-Kan.) introduced , the “Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act.”

 

The legislation would end the current deferment and limit the President’s ability to pause repayments. The measure would allow loan suspensions during another national emergency but limit them to 90 days and subject them to congressional approval. The legislation would also “prohibit the president from canceling outstanding federal student loan obligations due to a national emergency.”

 

The senators who introduced the legislation joined other Republicans who have and student loan debt cancellation. They note that most Americans do not have college degrees and argue that the pause is unfair and puts an added burden on taxpayers while also benefiting borrowers with high incomes who are able to pay their debts.

HHS Secretary Becerra Faces Representative Eshoo’s Wrath Over ARPA-H

 

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee held a on the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget proposal.

 

U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Chair of the Health Subcommittee, made it clear that she will continue to fight against the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) being housed within the National institutes of Health (NIH). Eshoo introduced legislation last fall, , to set up ARPA-H as an independent HHS agency.

 

“As the House sponsor of the authorizing legislation for ARPA-H, I believe your decision to place ARPA-H within NIH—let’s just put it this way, I don’t agree,” Eshoo said. “That’s in capital letters and exclamation points.”

 

Both the House and Senate continue to work on authorizing legislation for ARPA-H.

 

HHS published a on April 19 officially announcing the transfer of FY2022 funding to establish ARPA-H within NIH. At last week’s hearing, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra defended his decision to place ARPA-H within NIH and continued to assert ARPA-H’s independence.

 

“It will be an agency that has its own authorities and its own direction and its own director,” Becerra said.
ADEA’s Summary of State and Federal Loan Forgiveness Programs Updated

 

ADEA’s for oral health professionals has been updated for the new year and is now available on ADEA’s website. The summary includes information on state-sponsored loan forgiveness programs, states participating in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) state loan repayment program and states participating in the HRSA National Health Service Corps loan repayment program and other federal programs.

 

A complete list of HRSA loan repayment and scholarship programs available to dental and dental hygiene students and faculty may be found .
Oklahoma Legislature Passes Modifications to Dental Practice Act, Includes Manikin-based Licensure Exams

 

Both chambers of the Oklahoma State Legislature have now passed legislation that made numerous changes to the state’s Dental Practice Act. Highlights of those changes include:

  • Allowing a dental exam to be conducted on a manikin instead of a live patient,
  • Removing the Central Regional Dental Testing Services as a regional examination the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry is permitted to accept for licensure as a dentist,
  • Authorizing the Board to issue a special volunteer license for any live patient training approved by the Board,
  • Authorizing the Board to penalize any license holder who falls below the basic standard of care of a licensed dentist or a dentist practicing in their specialty as well as for failing to provide patient records,
  • Allowing a dentist who resides in Oklahoma, but does not currently practice in the state, to maintain a state license while also not carrying malpractice insurance, provided the dentist signs an affidavit stating they are not practicing dentistry and
  • Clarifying that practices of dentistry shall not preclude or prohibit the sale of any teeth whitening kit designed for self-administration.

 

The bill will now be sent to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) for consideration.
California Bill Would Allow Registered Dental Hygienists in Alternative Practice to Provide Dental Services in Specified Facilities

 

On April 21, the California Senate that would allow registered dental hygienists in alternative practice (RDHAP) to provide dental services to patients in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) or an intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled (ICF/DD). The bill also allows RDHAP to provide oral health training to staff in these facilities.

 

According to , current statutes and regulations allow RDHAPs to provide dental services in numerous settings, but recently some SNFs and ICF/DDs have prevented RDHAPs from providing care to patients, citing the lack of specific inclusion of RDHAPs as practitioners authorized to provide oral health care under state statutes governing Social Security.

 

The bill will now be sent to the California State Assembly for consideration.

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 teledentistry
  • 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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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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