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Advocacy - working on your behalf to:
- Promote the advancement of the dental hygiene profession
- Promote the oral health of the public
- Promote access to oral health
Advocacy is an important component in any organization and its members to make legislators aware if their positions on policy issues. As a licensed profession governed by state practice acts and rules, dental hygiene is directly impacted by many policy issues that shape day-to-day dental hygiene practice and the delivery of oral health care services. The involvement of you, a dental hygiene professional and member, is critical to the success of any advocacy effort!
Scope of practice, access to care, continuing education, and reimbursement under Medicaid are all examples of issues that require advocacy at the state or federal level. In many instances, ADHA and constituent state associations work in collaboration with other organizations, including organized dentistry, to affect policy changes.
At the national level, ADHA works with Congressional leaders, federal agencies and other associations to promote federal policies that encourage increased availability of oral health care.
At the state level, ADHA assists state associations to work with state legislatures and state dental/dental hygiene boards to improve laws and regulations that protect the public's oral health and enhance the practice of dental hygiene. For more information about the advocacy efforts of your state association, visit the state's website: [link to list of state websites/contact info]
The practice of dental hygiene has come a long way in the past 15 years. Check out this chart to see some of the areas of progress. |
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Get Involved in ADHA's Grassroots!
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Tobacco Regulation Legislation |
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Call your Senators Today – Join in the Effort to Enact H.R. 1108/S. 625!
On July 30 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1108, legislation that would grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to regulate the marketing, manufacturing, and sale of tobacco products. Tobacco products are currently among the least regulated products sold in the country and are exempt from regulations that apply to other consumer products.
ADHA has joined over 680 other organizations in the United States to advocate in favor of H.R. 1108 and its Senate companion, S. 625. The overwhelming vote to pass H.R. 1108 was a great milestone in the effort, which has been spearheaded by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, but the fight is not over. It is anticipated that S. 625 will face a tough battle to get through the Senate.
Senators need to hear from their constituents who support S. 625 if the legislation is to have a chance of making it through Congress this year. Please take a moment to make a call or send an e-mail to your Senators and let them know that you support S. 625. This is a great opportunity for the dental hygiene community to have its voice heard and join with hundreds of other organizations across the country on this important effort!
Getting involved is easy!
- Get the name and contact information for your senators at this link (just enter your zip code: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/.
- Use this sample phone script when you make the calls.
- For more information about H.R. 1108, please visit: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org.
If you have any specific questions, please feel free to call ADHA’s Governmental Affairs Division at 800-243-2343 ext. 225.
Thank you in advance for your support!
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Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP) |
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Since ADHA's House of Delegates passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a mid-level oral health practitioner, the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP), in 2004, the association has been working to engage policy makers at all levels to generate support for the new provider. To learn more about the ADHP, check out the ADHP section of the website.
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State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) |
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ADHA has long-supported the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) which provides health care coverage to children who do not qualify for Medicaid, but do not have access to private insurance coverage. Since the program was established in 1997, millions of children have benefited from the access to a range of health care services covered by SCHIP. ADHA worked in concert with the American Dental Association and a number of other national organizations to advocate in support of SCHIP reauthorization.
ADHA members have been a huge asset to the SCHIP advocacy effort, sending hundreds of letter of support to legislators.
SCHIP Update from 10-22-2007
SCHIP Update from 10-03-2007
SCHIP Update from 8-14-2007 [From Front Page of Site]
Details about House SCHIP Reauthorization:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/CHAMP/CHAMP_index.shtml
Details about House SCHIP Reauthorization:
http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2007press/prb080207f.pdf
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Building an Effective Legislative Team |
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Use this manual to learn more about how your state can effectively advocate for dental hygiene-friendly policy. [Link to Member Services] |
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HYPAC
HYPAC is the only political action commitee representing the interests of the over 120,000 licensed dental hygienists in the United States. HYPAC enables dental hygienists to collectively support candidates for Congress who share your interests. This joint effort provides a stronger voice for oral health care concerns.
For more information about HYPAC and instructions on how to lend your support to the political action commitee that represent your profession, visit the Member Resources of the site.
Stateline
The Stateline column appears in every issue of Access magazine as a way to update members on legislative and regulatory developments in the states.
Read the latest edition of Stateline to get legislative news on oral health care from coast to coast.
Bills Signed into Law in 2007 [link to pdf]
Self-Regulation of Dental Hygiene [link to pdf]
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