NMDA Journal Winter 2019-20

12 New Mexico Dental Journal, Winter 2020 CGAREPORTFOR FALL2019 Chris Morgan, DMD, Chairperson of the CGA The Council of Government Affairs, one of the most active committees of the NMDA, continues to work with our state’s public relations and our legislative initiatives. The council meets regularly, oftentimes via tele- conference, as its membership is purposely representative of the entire state. The CGA is directed by our members via the House of Delegates to explore and/or actively pursue legislative matters. We rely upon the local re- lationships of our member dentists to gain ac- cess to “decision makers” ears. We also heavily rely upon dentistry’s reputation as an ethical, trustworthy, and well-established profession. This year, we have a shortened 30-Day Legis- lative Session, starting January 21, 2020, and ending at High Noon on February 20, 2020. Due to the shortened session, and the re- quirement that the Governor must “message” all bills, we will have to selectively choose which matters we will pursue. Consequently, we have a very dynamic list of issues that we are considering. The CGA is sometimes aided by the American Dental Association. The ADA has provided us with a report entitled the Third-Party Payer Public Policy Priority Issues. Along with this report, the ADA is also able to provide us with “model legislation” in the form of other state’s bills that have been fully vetted. From the report and other surveys, the CGA devised a list of action items that are of interest to our members—possibly through legislation. In- cluded in this list are issues such as: • Limiting dental benefits network leasing practices, especially without notice; • Disallowing or limiting insurance payers using from using virtual credit cards; • Disallowing retroactive dental claims denials; • Requiring that pre-authorization from benefit companies to be a commitment for payment. Beyond pursuing concerns with dental benefits organizations (I refuse to call them insurance companies), the CGA will continue to monitor any tele-dentistry bills. Last year, the governor vetoed a tele-dentistry bill that was heavily lobbied by an association that is almost entirely funded by out of state, DIY dental outfits. DIY dentistry can include re- movable orthodontic aligners. These large corporations are actively at- tempting to shift any citizen’s claims of bad outcomes and/or malpractice to “out of state” dentists. This leaves citizens of New Mexico vulnerable. If they try to align their teeth with DIY aligners—without proper dental exami- nation and oversite (an out of state dentist)— and have a bad outcome, there is no possible recourse, as dentists are monitored by their own state board. The New Mexico State Den- tal Board has no jurisdiction over out of state dentists. DIY dentistry is absolutely wrong for citizens of New Mexico. Furthermore, large, out-of-state corporations have no business trying to weaken our oversite for the pure benefit of their corporate financial bottom line. The CGA will work with our lobbyist and our legislators, attempting to pass on our exten- sive knowledge on these issues. It is always our goal to maintain our earned integrity in all aspect of our pursuits. Though the process can be slow and frustrating, in the end, with the right guidance and principles, we feel as if we are representing our association, our pro- fession, along with State’s best interest. The CGA is also actively working with a new Medicaid Group Report. Currently, the “im- provements” in this report are not likely to entice practicing dentists to change their participation status with Medicaid. Included in the report is a proposed 2% fee increase across the board. In order for more dentists to “sign up,” this number would need to be sub- stantially higher than 2%. Also included in the proposal are loan repayment initiatives and new dental code coverages (silver diamine applications). The CGA does not support this minuscule change to the current system. Finally, the CGA is actively speaking with Texas Tech University Health Science Center. They are opening the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine in El Paso, Texas and will be admitting their first class in the Fall of 2021. It is the CGA’s hope that we can secure some spots with this new dental school for New Mexican students, possibly mimicking the WICHE program that we have with other dental schools. Programs like WICHE make it far more affordable for native New Mexicans to attend out of state dental schools at a sig- nificantly reduced tuition. As these issues progress, the CGA will con- tinue to submit more information to our members.