Government Relations

State Budget News

Governor Shapiro ’ s proposal to raise dental Medicaid fees eight percent generated interest from many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and was a focal point during budget hearings in the House of Representatives and Senate . Besides an acknowledgement that there is inadequate reimbursement for dental services already covered under Medicaid , lawmakers also questioned how much would need to be appropriated to restore comprehensive services for adults that had been cut in 2011 . The House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee generated even more interest in dental Medicaid during its public hearing in May , at which Dr . James Mancini , a public health dentist and volunteer leader at both the ADA and PDA , spoke of the difficulties faced by dentists who practice in rural counties and the necessity for more funding and other reforms to the dental Medicaid program .

After the budget hearings , Dr . Darleen Oleski , chair of PDA ’ s government relations committee , along with lobbyists and staff , met with Acting Secretary of Human Services ( DHS ) Valerie Arkoosh and other DHS officials , to discuss Medicaid policies and funding . They acknowledged the difficulties dentists and patients face when funding for many adult services was cut in 2011 and encouraged PDA to continue lobbying the legislature

for a restoration of funding to cover comprehensive adult benefits . Since then , DHS has tried to streamline the Benefit Limit Exception ( BLE ) process for dentists treating adult patients with the recent implementation of a policy that gives an automatic approval to BLEs submitted to provide dental care to five categories of patients :

• pregnant women

• patients with developmental disabilities

• patients with head , nose , and throat cancer

• diabetic patients

• patients with chronic cardiac conditions

DHS asked for PDA ’ s feedback related to the 8 % fee increase proposed in Governor Shapiro ’ s budget . While encouraging us to lobby the legislature a higher percentage overall , they also asked our opinion on which fees for current services should be increased at a higher percentage than others ( should the legislature allocate more funding ), based on factors such as utilization and what would be of most benefit to dentists who often struggle just to break even when treating Medicaid patients . PDA is working with several members who are Medicaid providers to present recommendations to DHS .

Phone

( credit card )

Website

( credit card )

www . padental . org / padpac

Check

Mail to :

PADPAC / PDA P . O . Box 3341 Harrisburg , PA 17105

PADPAC contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes . Federal Law requires political action committees to report the name , mailing address , occupation , and name of employer for each individual whose contributions exceed $ 200 or more in a calendar year . Federal election laws require PDA to record whether a contribution is hard or soft . Political campaign contributions can be made with a personal check or credit card . Personal contributions (" hard dollars ") can be used to support state legislative candidates and corporate contributions (" soft dollars ") can be used only for PADPAC administrative expenses . A maximum of $ 40 of your hard dollar contribution will be sent to the American Dental Association Political Action Committee ( ADPAC ). The PADPAC board determines a lump sum amount of soft dollars contributed to ADPAC annually . There is no minimum amount you must contribute to PADPAC .

8 MAY / JUNE 2023 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL