AGD Capitol Connections

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Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, which was originally enacted in 2018 to comprehensively address to the opioid epidemic.

On January 14, President Joe Biden delivered public remarks in which he detailed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan will be the first piece of Biden’s two-part response to the pandemic.

In a letter, the AGD congratulated Administrator Carole Johnson for her recent appointment to lead the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

S. 3017, the Veterans Dental Care Eligibility Expansion and Enhancement Act, will reportedly undergo markup in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs sometime in the near future.

In a ruling last Thursday by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), SCOTUS permitted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to resume enforcement of its interim final rule mandating COVID-19 vaccination for staff at covered Medicare and Medicaid facilities.

The White House spent part of the holiday recess calling Democratic Senators in an effort to get the Build Back Better (BBB) Act, President Biden’s broad social spending package, back on track after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) came out against the legislation late last month.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 technical assistance, adding a new section to clarify when COVID-19 may be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.

Following a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, a judicial stay on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) COVID-19 vaccine rule has been lifted in 25 states. CMS will move forward with its vaccine enforcement in the states and territories not enjoined by the court’s ruling.

Carole Johnson will assume her role as the new Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this month. Johnson most recently served as Testing Coordinator for the White House’s COVID-19 Response Team.

The U.S. Treasury and Small Business Administration (SBA) rolled out a new round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) last week. Businesses will be able to use PPP funding over a period of eight to 24 weeks. This new round is said to be more flexible and clearly defined than the previous round of loans.

President Biden released high-level details of his COVID-19 vaccination plan on January 15, following public remarks (written) that came a day after the release of his coronavirus relief plan.

The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (H.R. 1418) was signed into law on January 13. The law repeals the antiquated McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption granted to the health insurance industry decades ago.

AGD Members- Before reading this week's Capitol Connections, please take a moment to review the following information regarding a product recall alert:

The U.S. Senate recently voted on December 22 to pass the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (H.R. 1418), a bill to repeal the antiquated McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption granted to the health insurance industry decades ago.

On December 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC provided updated examples of its definition of "healthcare personnel (HCP)" that it recommends be among those offered the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines.