AGD Capitol Connections

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it would reopen its existing public comment docket for the COVID-19 healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that expired on December 21, 2021.

S.1793, the Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act, was introduced in the Senate by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).

On Monday, President Biden sent his Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal for the U.S. government to Congress.

S.3799, the PREVENT Pandemics Act is undergoing a markup by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee this week. The legislation is designed to prepare for and respond to existing and emerging viruses and other health threats.

Congress passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package last week that would fund federal operations for the remainder of fiscal year 2022.

On Monday, AGD met with the offices of Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to discuss sponsoring H.R.4555, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act.

The AGD thanked Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and John Boozman (R-AR) for introducing S.3658, the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act, in a letter addressed to their offices on Tuesday.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will issue $560 million in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 payments to more than 4,100 providers this week. The agency has issued nearly $11.5 billion in PRF Phase 4 payments and $7.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published proposed guidelines for prescribing opioids to treat pain in patients 18 years and older. The proposed guidelines mark the first update to the CDC’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain since 2016.

In an interview with Bloomberg Law, Doug Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA), described the enactment of a permanent COVID-19 workplace standard for the healthcare industry as OSHA’s most urgent rulemaking.

Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and John Boozman (R-AR) plan to introduce the Senate companion to H.R.4122, the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act, this week.

Last Thursday, AGD met with Administrator Carole Johnson of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to welcome the Administrator to her new role and reinforce AGD’s ongoing collaboration with the agency.

On January 14, President Joe Biden delivered public remarks in which he detailed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan will be the first piece of Biden’s two-part response to the pandemic.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is currently recruiting for the position of Chief Dental Officer (CDO) within the Office of Special Health Initiatives.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) opened the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Payment Reconsideration Process for American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural and Phase 4 payments on February 1, 2022 for a period of at least 45 days.

In a letter addressed to President Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Representatives Bobby Scott, Chair of the Education and Labor Committee, and Alma Adams, Chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, objected to the administration’s plan to withdraw most of its June 21, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring health care facilities to take steps to protect healthcare workers from exposure to COVID-19 while a more permanent standard is developed.

In a letter, the AGD congratulated Administrator Carole Johnson for her recent appointment to lead the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

S. 3017, the Veterans Dental Care Eligibility Expansion and Enhancement Act, will reportedly undergo markup in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs sometime in the near future.

In a ruling last Thursday by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), SCOTUS permitted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to resume enforcement of its interim final rule mandating COVID-19 vaccination for staff at covered Medicare and Medicaid facilities.

The White House spent part of the holiday recess calling Democratic Senators in an effort to get the Build Back Better (BBB) Act, President Biden’s broad social spending package, back on track after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) came out against the legislation late last month.