KDA Today
KDA Today
For Immediate Release
Date: Dec 29th, 2014
Contact: Dr. Garth Bobrowski
Phone: 800-292-1855
Email: info@kyda.org
Things are Moving Faster than Fast!
We officially have a new Executive Director, Mr. Rick Whitehouse. After working on the contract and final consultation with our KDA attorney, the contract was signed at the ADA meeting in San Antonio. I personally want to welcome Rick to the KDA.
Rick has been soaking up information while attending meetings in the state and at the ADA meeting. His professional energy is refreshing. Rick attended several meetings and courses at the ADA and even perused the exhibit floor and sat in on some of the “mini-courses” presented there. We even got our picture made in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC for next year’s ADA meeting. (We were teleported there like the Captain and Mr. Spock.) It was great that Rick got to meet all of the Kentucky delegation during the ADA meeting. We purposely introduced Rick to key people, making those contacts that will prove beneficial in the future. Rick even sat with the KDA Delegation during the ADA House of Delegates meeting in the convention hall.
At the ADA meeting it was reported that $512,000 in donations to the ADPAC were collected. It was reemphasized how important it is to learn the legislative paths and to CONTINUALLY monitor our legislative efforts.
Speaking legislatively, the South Central Dental Society has had two “Legislative Meet and Greets” during the month of October; one in Somerset and one in Greensburg. What great learning events for us and our legislators! One surprising comment by one legislator was, “I have been a legislator for over five years and I have NEVER had a dentist talk to me.” Wow! Have we got some work to do! I am, personally, not much of a political person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get out of our comfort zone and learn how to politically advance our profession.
Here are some ways that we can get involved: 1. Donate to our ADPAC, KDPAC, (a donation can be set up to give on a monthly basis, if you don’t want to give a lump sum); 2. Notify the KDA if you personally know a legislator or one of their family members; 3. Be a messenger from the KDA to present PAC MONEY to a specific legislator or legislative trust; 4. Attend a legislative ‘Meet and Greet’; 5. Plan a legislative ‘Meet and Greet’; 6. Invite your legislator to your office to discuss dental-related issues that affect your business or your ability to see your patients; 7. Learn the talking points of KDA issues; 8. Help develop these talking points; 9. Offer to attend a meeting where policy is being discussed; 9. Learn the strengths of your politician and the legislative committees on which he or she serves; 10. If you want more to do, call Rick or me.
I want to thank Dr. B.J. Millay and Libby Milligan, our KDA lobbyist in Frankfort, for helping the South Central Dental Society set up our legislative ‘Meet and Greets’. I want to challenge each society to have a Legislative Day once a year. Dr. B. J. Millay, Libby or I will help you set it up and get you started. It is really easier than you think. I want to commend the Kentucky Mountain Dental Society because I was at a one of their monthly meetings and they had one of their legislators at that meeting.
Here are a few more things we learned from the legislators or comments they made: 1. If we have a problem, bring a plan and possible solutions; 2. They don’t have time to look through every “nook and cranny” of every bill presented (so we need to make ourselves knowledgeable about every bill that might affect us); 3. Tell us (the legislators) what we need to do; 4. We, as dentists, need to be THE LOUD VOICE IN THE ROOM—BE VOCAL AND BE ORGANIZED; 5. Meet with new legislators immediately; 6. Simplify our message —be brief, and highlight our main points; 7. Build trust with our legislators—do not “burn me” with bad information; 8. We are doing the right thing by having these planning sessions (meet and greets).
Now, for a Medicaid update. As I reported earlier, our Medicaid workgroup met with Secretary Audrey Haines, Commissioner Larry Kissner and other policy makers in July in Frankfort. We tried to educate them about the many problems that we, as practitioners, are having on a day-to-day basis in the operations of our dental practices. We gathered information from other practitioners. But, what made our meeting different from those of other Medicaid provider groups was that we offered some solutions. Sec. Audrey Haines invited us back to meet with her and her staff in October. Our Medicaid workgroup was well attended. In one of her first statements, she thanked us for taking the time to visit with her and bring this information to their attention. She then said, “We really want to be accommodating to you and your profession”. A few take-a-ways from this meeting were that she wants us to continue to provide input to them by forming smaller groups that will work on the details of handling day-to-day paperwork, credentialing, enrollment, business plans. She also asked us to work with our legislators to find funding for programs. Legislators cut $30,000,000 from the Medicaid budget, which the Feds match with $70,000,000, so the state is out $100,000,000. Here we go again, we have to be the LOUD VOICE IN THE ROOM, legislatively. If the state is going to have or offer these programs, they have to be properly funded. In my opinion, “don’t have the program if you can’t do it correctly.” The new Managed Care Organization (MCO) contracts terminate on June 30, 2015. We are under the gun to get things done and we have a great opportunity to offer input to Sec. Haynes and her staff. New contracts must be given to the MCOs 90 days before June 30, 2015. So, we basically have November and December of 2014, and January of 2015 to get a report to her. I think there are one or two holidays in there, somewhere. We need some help. Please call me or email me or members of our Medicaid work group with ideas for solutions.
As our editor, Dr. John Thompson says, “Things are moving fast”. Well, as you can see from above, things are moving “faster than fast”. On December 2, 2014, there is a meeting of the Dental Quality Alliance, associated with the Governor’s Association Policy Academy. Do you know what one of the topics is? Dental Workforce Policy and the Future of Dentistry. Do you think we need to be at that meeting? Well, yes! We were at the Blue Grass Dental Society meeting the other night and our KDA lobbyists told the group, “We either need to be at the table or we will be on the menu.” As I said before, we need your help. We need interested dentists to go to meetings like this. We do plan to have representation at this meeting.
At our last KDA Executive Board meeting on November 1, 2014, Ms. Veronica Cecil, from the Medicaid Program Integrity Department made a great presentation. I want to think that some of the work that our Medicaid Workgroup has done and solutions they have created are paying off. Ms. Cecil reported that the department is diligently working to improve how dentists get enrolled to be a Medicaid provider. She added that they want to “make it easier on dentists”. Hopefully, by March, 2015 they will have a Provider Portal for online enrollment, along with online areas where we can maintain documents, like the federally/state-mandated ADO form (Annual Disclosure of Ownership). The new forms are ONLY 14-pages long, instead of 80-pages. The AFFORDABLE CARE ACT is the entity that requires the revalidation every five years. So if you are a Medicaid Provider, you have, both, state and federal laws and forms to complete.
Please stay in touch. Oh, I have to tell you! Rick Whitehouse didn’t even know he came up with a great catch phrase when he was talking to the Blue Grass Dental Society. The sharp mind that I have and the fact that I was listening to his comments proved to be valuable. HAHA. He was rambling on…You know how EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS are, and he was talking about how valuable membership is. He said, “We, the KDA, are only as strong as our membership”, referring to plans to increase member value. Then, he said, “Dues do something”! What a great catch phrase for us! DUES DO SOMETHING! Our dues do work for us in all kinds of ways.
Our Scientific Chair for the 2015 Kentucky Meeting, Dr. B.J. Moorhead, and the Annual Sessions Committee will soon present some ideas to promote member value for recent graduates. So watch your KDA TODAY!