You’re an advocate: Legislation affecting new dentists

By | September 23, 2015

You pushed ADA-backed legislation with your congressional representatives during the annual Washington Leadership Conference in the nation’s capital.

LegislationYou registered for ADA 2015 – America’s Dental Meeting, Nov. 5-10 in Washington, D.C. You’ll attend the New Dentist Conference concurrent with the ADA annual meeting for the first time.

You’re an oral health advocate.

What is the ADA doing for dentists? Here are some highlights, courtesy of the American Dental Political Action Committee and the Council on Government Affairs.

The ADA lobbies Congress on legislation and the executive branch on regulations on behalf of dentists and the patients you serve. Learn more about the legislative issues the ADA is working on by visiting ADA.org/Advocacy. To join your colleagues advocating for important federal legislation, visit ADA.org/Engage. ADA Engage offers opportunities for ADA members to contact their legislators and stay informed on public policy issues that affect dentistry.

2015 Advocacy Accomplishments

ADA member dentists met with more than 300 congressional offices during the 2015 Washington Leadership Conference to discuss issues important to dentistry. Since the April conference, ADA-supported legislation has gained more than 90 cosponsors in Congress.

Action for Dental Health Act 2015, H.R. 539

The bill would allow organizations to qualify for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oral health grants to support activities that improve oral health education and dental disease prevention. The grants could also be used to develop and expand outreach programs establishing dental homes for children and adults including the elderly, blind and disabled. H.R. 539 has added 44 cosponsors since the WLC, and the legislation had 62 bipar tisan cosponsors as of June 24.

Student Loan Refinancing Act H.R. 649

This bill will assist in easing the burden of student loan debt by allowing individuals to refinance their federal Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans and Direct Consolidation Loans at any time during the life of the loans, enabling them to take advantage of lower interest rates during more favorable economic conditions. Moreover, refinanced rates would be fixed, protecting them from interest rate hikes when economic conditions worsen. Since the WLC, 15 new cosponsors have signed on bring the total to 36 as of July 7.

RAISE Act of 2015 H.R. 1185

This legislation makes three common sense changes to the current Health Flexible Spending Arrangement structure to give families a greater degree of control of their outof- pocket health care expenses. First, it allows families to carry over all unused funds from year to year, providing the ability to plan and save for major expenditures. Second, the bill raises the savings cap from $2,500 to $5,000 per year. Lastly, it allows for an additional $500 to be added to the cap for each dependent beyond two. After the WLC the bill picked up another 24 cosponsors for a total to 49 as of
June 24.

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