Thoughts on Virtual Hill Day from Dr. Mike Bromberg

Throughout my career, I have taken advantage opportunities to speak out for general dentistry. It is clear that our needs are different from those of other areas in dentistry, and that is why I spend so much of my time working with legislative and regulatory leaders on behalf of AGD. As we know, there is so much more to oral care than hygiene appointments, and it is our responsibility to educate those making decisions that impact our work on the specifics of our work.

On July 13, I was honored to lead my colleagues as we took our message to Capitol Hill through a virtual Hill Day. Because of COVID-19, congressional offices are not having in-person meetings with visitors yet, but we couldn’t let this limit our access. We met with congressional leaders and their staffs virtually to communicate key details regarding pressing issues affecting the dental industry. 

We focused our conversations on AGD’s top advocacy priorities, including:  

• The Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act — Legislation to help develop and test evidence-based oral health literacy strategies across vulnerable populations to provide oral disease prevention education. 
• Medicare Dental Benefits Expansion — Opposition to legislative proposals that would expand the Medicare program which is already fiscally unsustainable to provide dental benefits coverage and support for an alternative program to provide coverage to low-income seniors (under 300% federal poverty level). 
• The Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act (S. 1793/H.R. 3461) — Legislation that will prevent insurers from setting fees for services insurers don’t cover. 
• The Resident Education Deferred Interest Act (H.R. 4122) — Legislation that would allow new dentists to qualify for interest-free deferment on their student loans while serving in a dental internship or residency program.  

As you know, there is so much happening in Washington that directly impacts us, so we must maintain and strengthen our relationships with legislative leaders. As we look ahead, I encourage you to think about reaching out to legislators while they are home for August recess. We are strongest when we work together, and that’s why AGD needs all of us to make those connections whenever we can. AGD’s team is here to help you with talking points, position papers and other resources. Let legislators know how you can help them and be their connection should they have questions about our work.

Now, more than ever, we must maintain our resolve to seek opportunities to raise awareness, and we must work together. Expanding our voice on Capitol Hill is essential!

For assistance with scheduling a meeting or accessing information and materials, please email advocacy@agd.org.