March 1, 2012:   Yesterday, the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging held a subcommittee hearing entitled, “Dental Crisis in America:  The Need to Expand Access.”

Witnesses presenting testimony included Christy Jo Fogarty, RDH, MSOHP , Licensed Dental Hygienist and Licensed Dental Therapist at Children’s Dental Services, Farmington, Minnesota, Gregory Folse, DDS , President of Outreach Dentistry, Lafayette, Louisiana,

Grant Whitmer, MSM , Executive Director at Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region, Rutland, Vermont, Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH , Professor of Dentistry and Health Policy & Management at Columbia University, New York, New York, Shelly Gehshan, MPP , Director of the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign, Pew Center on the States, Washington, District of Columbia.

Members of the Subcommittee include Tom Harkin (IA), Barbara A. Mikulski (MD), Jeff Bingaman (NM), Patty Murray (WA), Bernard Sanders (I) (VT), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA), Kay R. Hagan (NC), Jeff Merkley (OR), Al Franken (MN), Michael F. Bennet (CO), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Michael B. Enzi (WY), Lamar Alexander (TN), Richard Burr (NC), Johnny Isakson (GA), Rand Paul (KY), Orrin G. Hatch (UT), John McCain (AZ), Pat Roberts (KS), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Mark Kirk (IL).

• The New York State Oral Health Coalition, along with many organizations joined the Coalition for Health Funding and the Committee for Education Funding in support of a sign-on letter, directed to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.  The letter urged them to provide a 302(b) allocation to the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee that protects those important programs against further cuts. The letter reflected nearly 400 signatures representative of national, regional and state organizations who share the same concerns should further cuts be made to allocations that benefit health and education funding in the United States. For more information and to join the Coalition for Health Funding please visit its website at www.publichealthfunding.org and follow on Twitter @healthfunding.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated its web site dedicated to Children's Oral Health. This AAP site continues to offer valuable tools and resources, but in a more streamlined and easy to navigate format.
  
  
• The PEW Report Making Coverage Matter was released May 24, 2011. New York improved from a C grade to a B. Check out out Fact Sheet for details.
  
  
• On May 15, 2011, the New York State Medicaid Program Dental Policy and Procedure Manual was released. For more information on this provider manual, Click here for more information on the Dental Manual.
  
  
• To learn about New York's Medicaid Redesign Team, contact the Team, and to stay informed as they work on their initiatives, visit http://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/
  
• The Ad Hoc Group on Local Oral Health Programs for the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors Best Practices Committee released the Local Oral Health Programs and Best Practices Voices from the Field: The End-Users' Perspective
  report in February, 2011.
  
  
• The Older Adults Basic Screening Survey Webinar held on January 20th, 2011 is archived and available for viewing on the ASTDD site.