AGD Capitol Connections

On March 8, 2024, the House of Representatives passed the Action for Dental Health Act of 2023 (H.R. 3843) by a vote of 391 to 32. Thank you to the hundreds of AGD members who contacted their Representative via our action alert.

On March 9, 2024, a government shutdown was averted when President Biden signed a ‘minibus’ appropriations package for six of the 12 spending bills, including the Agriculture/FDA appropriations.

On February 8, 2024, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a final rule entitled, Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Patient Records.

On February 21, 2024, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a report entitled, Strengthening Health Data Privacy for Americans: Addressing the Challenges of the Modern Era.

On February 20, 2024, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced a bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to explore ways that Congress can support AI innovation while establishing appropriate guardrails

On January 17, 2024, the Chair of the House Energy & Commerce (E&C) Full Committee and the Chair of the E&C Health Subcommittee, Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2) respectively, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a study on the vertical integration and consolidation of the dental and vision benefits industries.

On January 17, 2024, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced S.3597, the Promoting Dental Health Act.

On January 2, 2024, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) posted new Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) designations and withdrawals and shared information on the process to submit comments on these decisions.

On January 8, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Stacy Sanders will serve as the Department’s inaugural Chief Competition Officer, a newly created role aimed at reducing healthcare and prescription drug costs by promoting competition.

On January 18, 2024, President Biden signed into law another Continuing Resolution (CR) necessary to keep the government open, H.R.2872, Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024.

The AGD Advocacy Fund supports national and constituent advocacy efforts by providing resources to tackle new matters, such as legislation or legal action affecting the practice of general dentistry.

On December 11, 2023, the House of Representatives passed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, H.R. 5378.

This week, the House and Senate both took major steps towards reauthorizing the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, which was originally enacted in 2018 to comprehensively address to the opioid epidemic.

The AGD Advocacy Fund supports national and constituent advocacy efforts by providing resources to tackle new matters, such as legislation or legal action affecting the practice of general dentistry.

On November 29, 2023, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing entitled, Understanding How AI is Changing Health Care. Witnesses included representatives from hospitals, health care companies, and medical schools.

On November 28, 2023, Senator Dick Durbin sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the Administrator to notify states about the recent Medicare changes to oral health care services that were included in the 2024 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System final rule.

The AGD will be holding a free virtual Advocacy Conference with two-half days on December 15 – 16, 2023. Earn 7.5 hours of CE and gain insight into the current legislative and regulatory landscape and how it may affect your practice. Hear from AGD members on today’s important issues and learn how you can make a difference at the state and federal levels.

The AGD Advocacy Fund supports national and constituent advocacy efforts by providing resources to tackle new matters, such as legislation or legal action affecting the practice of general dentistry.

On November 16, 2023, President Biden signed a “laddered” continuing resolution (CR) into law, entitled the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 to avert a government shutdown as federal funding was set to expire on November 17, 2023.

On October 30, 2023, President Joe Biden signed an executive order (EO) entitled, Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.