G ove r n men t Re lat ions
PDA is the premier dental organization at the forefront of
legislative initiatives to improve the dental practice
environment in Pennsylvania for both dentists and patients. We
contract with a top notch lobbying firm, The Winter Group, to
advocate for dentistry at the state Capitol and with the
Governor’s Administration.
The legislative session, which commenced in January 2017,
allows PDA two years to advocate on members’ behalf for the
following important insurance reforms, and scope of practice
and access to care initiatives:
• Assignment of benefits
• Health practitioner student loan forgiveness and tangential
loan mitigation issues.
Through the years, PDA has used dentists’ collective voice
in the legislative area to accomplish great things:
g PASSED legislation limiting the timeframe in which
insurers may retroactively review and deny dental
claims to 24 months.
g PASSED legislation prohibiting insurers from capping
fees for dental services which are not covered in a
patient’s plan.
g PASSED legislation requiring insurers to cover the cost
of general anesthesia when needed to treat patients of
any age with special needs or children seven years of
age or younger.
• Increased funding in the Medical Assistance program for
dental providers and a restoration of adult benefits. g PASSED legislation allowing out-of-state dentists to
apply for temporary licenses so that they may volunteer
at charitable events or assist during states of emergency.
While PDA takes a focused approach in limiting its primary
advocacy efforts to those three issues, we will monitor and
address the following additional issues on an as-needed basis: g REINSTATED funding in the state budget for Dental
Lifeline Network’s Donated Dental Services program.
• Maintaining funding for the Donated Dental Services
program.
• Prescription drug prescribing authority, abuse and patient
monitoring.
• Protecting the current dental team model and patients’
safety by limiting or restricting the unsupervised practice
of non-dentists.
• All other workforce and scope of practice issues.
• Supporting programs and policies aimed at improving
oral health.
• Representing dentistry’s interests on issues pertaining to
the Affordable Care Act.
• All insurance issues, such as balance billing, coordination
of benefits and credentialing.
Already in 2017, PDA hit the ground running with our legislative
priorities, with a new assignment of benefits bill (SB 373)
having been introduced in mid-February and a new bill expected
to be introduced this year to provide more dental student loan
forgiveness funding. We are also hard at work at securing
appropriations in the state budget for dental initiatives such as
Dental Lifeline Network’s Donated Dental Services program.
g SECURED additional funding in the state’s health care
practitioner loan forgiveness program for dentists who
agree to practice in shortage areas in exchange for
student loan forgiveness.
g PASSED legislation that expands the scope of practice
for expanded function dental assistants to include some
hygiene functions performed under dentists’ direct
supervision.
g AMENDED legislation requiring dentists to carry
malpractice insurance by including an exemption for
dentists with volunteer licenses and those who practice
in community based settings.
g DEFEATED legislation that would have required
dentists to submit proof of having paid taxes before
renewing their dental license, threatening their
livelihood if the state made mistakes processing this
information.
g REMOVED provisions in a city ordinance that required
dentists to install amalgam separators and display a
poster in their offices needlessly alarming patients
about the dangers of “mercury amalgam.”
g DEFEATED legislation allowing municipalities to
remove fluoride from water supplies without prior
notification to the public or Department of
Environmental Protection.
MARCH / AP RIL 2017 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL
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