Government Relations
The General Assembly convened in February to begin the second year of the two-year legislative session. Governor Josh Shapiro gave his budget address to both chambers on February 3. Budget hearings with agencies in the administration are well under way and negotiations among House and Senate leaders will soon begin in earnest … just a few months after enacting the FY 2025-26 budget, six months past due!
PDA will monitor all budgetary issues impacting dentistry: Medicaid and Rural Health Transformation Plan funding through the Department of Human Services, and health care practitioner loan repayment and Donated Dental Services funding through the Department of Health, among other things. See page 6 for more details on the Governor’ s proposed budget.
Rural Health Transformation Plan
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services( CMS) recently announced that all 50 states will receive awards under the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $ 50 billion initiative established under President Trump’ s Working Families Tax Cuts legislation to strengthen and modernize health care in rural communities across the country.
The Rural Health Transformation Program’ s $ 50 billion in funds will be allocated to approved states over five years, with $ 10 billion available each year from 2026 through 2030.
In 2026, states will receive first-year awards from CMS averaging $ 200 million, within the range of $ 147 million to $ 281 million. Pennsylvania was granted about $ 193 million for year one. The state has until September 2027 to use the fundings that it has received this first year.
States are to invest this funding to expand access to care in rural communities, strengthen the rural health workforce, modernize rural facilities and technology, and support innovative models that bring high-quality, dependable care without having to travel long distances.
Addressing oral health disparities is part of Pennsylvania’ s RHTP, but the degree to which remains to be seen, as does when exactly dental-related initiatives would come to fruition in the five-year window when federal funding is available. The plan does specifically include the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine’ s initiative to create dental regional training centers in rural areas as an example of how RHTP funding may be used. There is also mention of using the funding to offer financial incentives such as a scholarship program for dentists and dental team members to practice in rural areas.
PDA reached out to the Department of Human Services to partner with the department as funds are released and they begin to implement year one of the plan. We have been asked to serve on the Governor’ s advisory council tasked with offering recommendations and guidance on the RHTP.
Artificial Intelligence( AI) in Health Care
PDA recently submitted comments to the House Communications and Technology Committee regarding proposed legislation regulating the use of AI in health care. While the bill is more germane to hospitals and other large health systems, we thought it prudent to go on the record with comments and a request that the committee engage with PDA on AI-related legislation so that any requirements impacting dentistry make sense to dentists and dental practices.
PDA provided the following feedback to the committee:
• It is sometimes unclear in proposed legislation whether the intent is to include dentistry due to ambiguous definitions of health insurance policies, health care provider and health care facility. Specificity / clarity in such definitions greatly simplifies enforcement following enactment.
• While it is important to disclose the use of AI to patients, compliance with other requirements such as submitting an annual report to the Department of Health would likely be overly burdensome to small group dental practices and solo practitioners. This is especially true for those who already face administrative hassles as Medicaid providers. PDA recommends excluding dentistry from requirements that are intended for large health systems and hospitals, which have more resources to handle compliance issues.
• As with medicine, while AI has a role to play in dentistry – such as with imaging and diagnosis and treatment planning – it is no substitute for human expertise and clinical judgement.
• While PDA sees the value in insurers using AI for administrative tasks and to expedite claims processing, we believe that humans with appropriate clinical expertise will always play a vital role in evaluating and making determinations related to prior authorization and coverage.
Dental Insurance Reform( DIR) legislation
PDA continues to press key legislators to move our DIR legislation through committee to a floor vote. Credentialing reform bills were introduced in both the House and Senate, and the Dental Loss Ratio( DLR) bill, already introduced in the House, will likely be introduced in the Senate this spring.
MARCH / APRIL 2026 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 5