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Funding Oral Health in Health Care Reform: What You Can Do
Now that oral
health has a significant place in the new health care reform law,
the next step is to assure these provisions are funded.
Maine's Senators have both been strong supporters of oral health in
general, but they need to hear from constituents on the importance
of funding the provisions that the bill has authorized.
Here is a letter template
that can be used when talking to your congressional representatives
about the importance of following through on the promise of oral
health care reform.
To email or find Maine contact information for Maine's Congressional Representatives:
Senator Collins go here.
Senator Snowe go here.
Representative Pingree go here
Representative Michaud go here
MDAC is already co-signatory, along with many other state coalitions and national oral health groups, urging Chairmen of the Senate and House Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittees on Appropriations, to fully fund the oral health provisions in the FY2011 budget. The body of the letter is here.
What does Health Care Reform Mean for Oral Health?
The Children's Dental Health Project has a a good summary of what the new Federal law will mean for oral health.
1.
Coverage:
a.
Oral Health Services for Children: Requires that all insurance plans
that are made available through state Exchanges to the uninsured and
to small groups include oral health services for children. Bars
insurance plans operating under the Exchanges from charging out of
pocket expenses for preventive services, including preventive
pediatric oral health services. [SEC. 1302(b)(4); SEC. 1001]
b.
Stand-alone Dental Plans: Allows stand-alone dental plans to
participate in the Exchanges. Purchasers will have the option of
buying pediatric dental coverage directly from standalone dental
plans or through medical plans.
c.
Medicare Advantage: Requires Medicare Advantage Plans to use rebates
to pay for dental coverage, and other services. [SEC. 3202]
2.
Provider payments:
a.
Charges the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission with
review and report to Congress on payments to dental professionals.
[SEC 2801]
3.
Access provisions
a.
School-based Health Centers: Provides grants to school-based health
centers and includes oral health services in qualified services to
be provided at those centers. [SEC.4101]
b.
Dental Medical Diagnostic Equipment: Establishes standards for
accessibility of medical and dental diagnostic equipment for persons
with disabilities. [SEC. 4203]
4.
Prevention
a.
Public Education Campaign: Requires the Secretary to establish a
5-year, evidence based public education campaign to promote oral
health, including a focus on early childhood caries, prevention,
oral health of pregnant women, and oral health of at-risk
populations. [SEC. 4102]
b.
Dental Caries Disease Management: Establishes a grant program to
demonstrate the effectiveness of research-based dental caries
disease management. [SEC. 4102]c.
School-based Dental Sealant Programs: Requires that all states,
territories and Indian tribes receive grants for school-based dental
sealant programs. (Note: Currently only 16 states benefit from these
grants.) [SEC. 4102]
5.
Infrastructure
a.
Cooperative Agreements to Improve Oral Health Infrastructure:
Requires CDC to enter into cooperative agreements with ALL 50
states, territories and Indian tribes to improve oral health
infrastructure through leadership and program guidance, data
collection and interpretation of risk, delivery system improvements,
and science-based population-level programs. [SEC. 4102]
b.
Oral Health Care Surveillance Systems: Requires that the Secretary
update and improve national oral health surveillance by:
i.
requiring the inclusion of oral health reporting on pregnant women
through the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System( PRAMS).
(Note: currently the oral health component of PRAMS is optional);
ii.
retaining the current National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES) "tooth-level" surveillance (Note: This reverses
plans to drop tooth-level analysis in NHANES and replace it with
"person-level" analysis and allows ongoing longitudinal analysis of
American's oral health status);
iii.
requiring the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) findings be
validated through a "look back" procedure (Note: currently MEPS
conducts this validation for medical expenditures but not for dental
expenditures);
iv.
requiring all states to participate in the CDC's National Oral
Health Surveillance System. (Note: currently only 16 states are
required to participate.) [SEC. 4102]
6.
Workforce
a.
Alternative Dental Health Care Providers: Establishes five-year, $4
million 15-site demonstration program beginning within two years to
"train or employ" alternative dental health care providers. Defines
"alternative dental providers" to include currently proposed new
dental professionals (by the American Dental Association, American
Dental Hygienists' Association, and others) and others to be
determined by the DHHS Secretary. Charges the DHHS Secretary to
contact with the Institute of Medicine in evaluating this program.
[SEC. 5304]
b.
National Health Care Workforce Commission: Establishes a National
Health Care Workforce Commission, for which oral health care
workforce capacity is a designated high priority area for review.
The Commission will: support national, state and local policymaking;
coordinate workforce issues across agencies; evaluate the education
and training of health professionals with regard to demand for
services; facilitate coordination across levels of government, and
encourage workforce innovations. [SEC. 5101]
c.
Public Health Workforce: Establishes through the Surgeon General a
multidisciplinary health professional training program for select
individuals committed to public health and safety. The program
supports stipends and loan repayments as well as grants to
institutions (including dental schools) and obligates trainees to
service in the National Health Service Corps proportional to the
years of training support. Requires that Track trainees tailor their
pre-doctoral education and postdoctoral training to disciplines
pertinent to public health and safety and that educational
preparation involve community based experiences in multidisciplinary
teams. Establishes "Elite Federal Disaster Teams" comprised of Track
faculty and students to respond to national emergencies (public
health, natural disaster, bioterrorism, and other emergencies).
[SEC. 5315]
7. Training
a.
Workforce Development: Establishes a unique appropriations line-item
for training of general, pediatric, and public health dentists and
appropriates $30M for FY2010 to train oral health workforce. (Note:
currently dental and medical training is appropriated in a single
lump sum.)
b.
Expands "Title VII" dental workforce training program to include
training of dental students and practicing dentists as well as
residents (Note: currently the program supports only the training of
dental residents); providing financial assistance to dental trainees
(including dental hygienists); developing new training programs;
expanding faculty capacity through traineeships and fellowships for
dentists committed to teaching; grants for faculty development; and
faculty loan repayment programs; advancing pre-doctoral training in
primary care dentistry; providing technical assistance to pediatric
dental training programs in population and public health issues.
[SEC. 5303]
c.
Faculty Loan Repayment Program: Establishes a dental faculty loan
repayment program for faculty engaged in primary care dentistry to
include general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and public health
dentistry. Priorities are established for eight categories of
faculty who collaborate with medical care providers; demonstrate
retention of trainees in primary care and public health dentistry;
demonstrate training of rural, disadvantaged, and minority dentists;
collaborate with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and
other safety-net providers; teach in programs that target
underserved populations of all ages and medical and social
conditions; teach cultural competency and health literacy; succeed
in placing graduates in underserved areas or in the service of
underserved populations; intend to establish training programs for
special needs populations (inclusive of disabled, cognitively
impaired, medically complex, physically limited, and vulnerable
elderly).
d.
Primary Care Residency Programs: Establishes three-year, $500,000
grants to establish new primary care residency programs, including
dental programs. [SEC. 5508]
e.
Graduate Medical Education: Provides funding for new and expanding
graduate medical education, including dental education. [SEC. 5508]
Community Water Fluoridation; Healthy and Safe
- Maine Towns with Community Water Fluoridation
- Questions and Answers About Fluoride and Community Water Fluoridation
- Water Fluoridation: 5 Reasons Why Your Water Should Have Fluoride
- Community Water Fluoridation Facts ( Maine)
- The Manufacture of Fluoride Chemicals
Pictures and Praise for 2010 Oral Health Heroes
Barbara Covey MD, Demitria Kouzounas DMD, and Representative Pat Jones, are the 2010 Oral Health Heroes. All were recognized by their peers and legislators at the MDAC Legislative Breakfast held February 2.
- Press Release for MDAC Legislative breakfast and Oral Health Heroes Awards, February 2, 2010
- Pictures from the MDAC Legislative Breakfast and Oral health heroes Awards
