Council on Governmental Affairs
Dr. J. Kendall Dillehay
Washington, D.C., September 7-9, 2003
The Council had an extremely successful meeting under the guidance of our new chairman, Dr. Nahid Meleki. The majority of our council meeting time was dedicated to implementing the recommendations of the Board of Trustees regarding the accreditation of Jacksonville University (JU).
The 30 member Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) was approved in 1992 to accredit dental education and is under the oversight of the United States Department of Education (USDOE). CODA granted JU preliminary provisional accreditation (PPA) earlier this year, and the AAO filed a complaint with the USDOE asking CODA to enforce its own advertising guidelines. Subsequently, after a second trip to the USDOE, JU corrected its advertising on its Web site and other materials by deleting any references to its orthodontic program being fully accredited by CODA. At that time, the USDOE informed the AAO that it did not have any jurisdiction over PPA and that after a site visit, if initial accreditation was granted, the AAO could inquire as to the adherence of CODA admission standard 1.1.
As many of you know, JU did receive initial accreditation in early August, and the BOT, through its own efforts, and COGA are actively pursuing information regarding whether CODA adhered to standard 1.1 and are seeking remedies if they did not.
The AAO, the ADA and others are lobbying the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to continue funding the $100 million spent for some 1700 dental resident’s stipends and teaching time for supervisory faculty in hospitals for residents trained in non-provider settings. This funding appears to be in jeopardy. COGA did determine from Tom Barker, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that general medical education (GME) funding in the final regulation will be phased out over the next three years. It will however include those residents signing contracts before October 1, 2003, and the institutions receiving GME funding in the past will not be required to pay back any prior funding. The Senate Medicare Reform Bill (S.1) currently includes a provision to continue GME funding uninterrupted, but the House Medicare Reform Bill does not include such language. The conference committee will determine whether funding for GME is contained in the final bill, which must be signed into lay for GME funding to continue as in the past.
COGA hosted VIP events with Rep. Phil English (R-PA), Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), Rp. Wally Herger (R-CA), Rep. Jim Sawton (R-NJ) and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX). All Representatives were briefed on our JU concern and all vowed to request information, if asked, from the USDOE concerning adherence to admissions standard 1.1. Representatives Herger and English were asked to support AHP’s and the expansion of MSA’s. Rep. Saxton was asked to support a pilot project for DR in the next Tricare contract.
Members of COGA also had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Ed Goeas, a premier Republican pollster, who gave us tremendous insight into the business of polling and why he has been extremely accurate in the last two presidential elections. COGA members hope that he will be invited to address the attendees at the Government Affairs Conference next March. Fundraising strategies were discussed by Shannon Finley, Chief Fundraiser for Sen. Max Baucus, and by Tom Hammond, Hammond and Associates. Mr. Hammond commented, “Money chases legislation, and legislation chases money.” They both agreed that money gets you a seat at the table, especially early money, and that Campaign Finance Reform has affected mostly democrats. Bottom line, PAC contributions are tied to who is trying to put you out of business!
Dorothy Moss, Governmental Affairs Director for ADA, created quite a stir with COGA members. During her visit, she was asked to support our request for information from the USDOE regarding the granting of initial accreditation for JU. She informed us that ADA couldn’t support our request since a review of CODA by USDOE might possibly discredit CODA. She stated that an accrediting body must have trust and credibility and that AAO should handle this “within the family.” She further stated that, “this is an issue that won’t affect the dentists.” Members of COGA were outraged that ADA appeared to be more concerned about the preservation of CODA than in preserving historical models of post graduate dental education! Members were further outraged that the concern of approximately 9000 ADA members, i.e. AAO members, were told that, “this won’t affect the dentists.”
To say the least, this was the most intense COGA meeting that I have attended. We face a significant challenge to our profession, but it is rewarding to know that all of our time on Capitol Hill in building relationships is worthwhile. As stated earlier, all of the Representatives that we spoke with offered support for our request for information from the USDOE if we request it. I would be remiss if I didn’t let the SWSO know that I appreciate the opportunity to serve on the COGA and if there are any issues that you would like to discuss further, please let me know.