AAOMS

National trauma data show Medicaid coverage rose from 16% to 24% after ACA implementation, while self-pay cases declined – suggesting broader insurance access for patients needing urgent facial trauma care. ROSEMONT, Ill.

Illinois, Louisiana and Rhode Island recently advanced legislation affecting dental reimbursement, cancer care and opioid prescribing. Illinois – Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed HB 4464, which protects dental providers from reimbursement processing fees. The bill prohibits insurers from requiring providers to accept payments carrying credit card or electronic transaction fees, requires express provider consent and disclosure of associated fees and prohibit contractual waivers of these protections.

Federal judges recently blocked two U.S. Department of Education student loan rules impacting graduate and professional degree borrowing limits and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. On June 25, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Department’s revised definition of “professional degree” in its May 2026 student loan final rule, which implements provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21).

The House Appropriations Committee advanced its Fiscal Year 2027 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. It is currently awaiting floor action. The bill would provide $110.8 billion for HHS, $4 billion below FY 2026 allocations. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) would receive $8.3 billion, including continued support for oral health workforce training, pediatric dentistry, state workforce grants, oral health literacy and efforts to integrate oral health into primary care.

| Home»Advocacy»Get Involved»Advocacy News Legislation (HR 2001) to reauthorize the Action for Dental Health (ADH) program passed the House Energy & Commerce Committee on May 21. Administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the ADH program provides grants to support oral health education and workforce development for underserved populations, especially seniors and children living in rural communities. AAOMS has supported the bill through past coalition efforts.

| Home»Advocacy»Get Involved»Advocacy News Arizona passed HB 2906, updating the state dental board’s membership requirements to mandate that one of the six licensed dentist seats be held by an actively practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Sponsored by Rep. Ralph Heap, MD (R-AZ-010), an orthopedic surgeon, and championed by the Arizona Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AzSOMS), the new law will help ensure specialized surgical expertise is represented on the board for years to come.

| Home»Advocacy»Get Involved»Advocacy News The White House released its National Drug Control Strategy, outliningthe administration’s priorities to reduce national drug overdose rates by aggressively targeting drug trafficking organizations and supply chains while strengthening prevention, treatment, recovery and community support efforts.

Federal student loan borrowers will face several significant changes effective July 1, resulting from the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21).

Connecticut adopted legislation (HB 5514) that, among other provisions, allows dentists to administer neuromodulators and dermal fillers beginning Oct. 1 (Sec. 34).

| Home»Advocacy»Get Involved»Advocacy News President Donald Trump nominated Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MP – a former rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and a former chief medical officer in the U.S. Coast Guard – for the role of CDC director. She previously served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration and during the transition to the Biden administration.