 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
MDHA News | MDHA Newsletter | Legislation
To find out who your state legislator isclick here.
READ ABOUT MDHA's Dental Hygiene Day at the State House
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
MDHA held its Second Annual Dental Hygiene Day at the State House on Tuesday, May 27, 2008. The event was attended by over fifty dental hygienists and students, as well as over seventy legislators and/or their staff members. The theme that resonated throughout the day was ACCESS TO CARE and the role that public health practice hygienists will play when S2567 becomes law.
The attendees were treated to an inspirational speaking program that included remarks from the bill’s lead sponsors, Senator Dianne Wilkerson and Representative Smitty Pignatelli. While these two legislators are from opposite ends of the Commonwealth, they are acutely aware of the ACCESS TO CARE issue that many of their constituents encounter on a daily basis. Lynn Bethel, Director, MA Department of Public Health Office of Oral Health discussed the findings from the2007 Statewide Survey of the Commonwealth’s Dental Hygiene Workforce. Antonia Blinn, Program Director, MA Coalition of School-Based Health Centers discussed “Access to Preventive Dental Care in School-Based Settings.” The program concluded with a rousing Keynote Address, delivered by Harold Cox, President of the Massachusetts Public Health Association titled, “The Need for Increased Access in Public Health Settings.”
The event concluded with approximately forty individual legislative visits, oral cancer and health screenings, and information sharing about MDHA’s legislative initiatives.
MDHA Legislation Moves From Public Health Committee
On December 19, 2007, the Joint Committee on Public Health reported out favorably the two legislative bills that MDHA sponsored and have sent them both to the Committee on Health Care Finance.
Click hereto read more.
Massachusetts Dental Hygienists Poised to Close the Gap in Lack of Access
to Quality Dental Health CareClick hereto learn more.
To view pictures of Lobby Dayclick here.
Dental Hygiene Day at the State House 2007
An extremely successful Dental Hygiene Day at the State House was held on March 27, 2007. There were over one hundred hygienists and dental hygiene students in attendance. Highlights of the event included remarks by Senator Dianne Wilkerson (Boston-D), lead sponsor of our public health practice legislation and Representative Kay Khan (Newton-D), with the Keynote Address provided by Dr. Myron Allukian. Oral cancer and blood pressure screenings were available to all legislators and their aides by the students from the Forsyth Dental Hygiene Program at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. All hygienists made individual visits to more than forty legislators discussing the importance of dental hygienists in addressing access issues, preventive oral health care and how our important legislative initiatives can improve the oral health of all residents in the Commonwealth.
Hearings on Dental Hygiene Legislation Scheduled for October 24th
at the State House
To receive the "World Tooth" button free complete the contact information formhere
On January 10, 2007, MDHA filed and is supporting two legislative bills:
- "An Act to Increase Access to Oral Health Services"
This bill is rooted in recent statistics conducted by the Oral Health Collaborative of Massachusetts that confirm what many dental hygienists have known for some time - residents of Massachusetts lack access to quality oral health care professionals. Of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, nearly 20% do not have a practicing dentist, and in the remaining 282 cities and towns, 30% do not have enough dentists. More than 50% of towns and cities in Massachusetts have no dentist willing to accept MassHealth. In many parts of Massachusetts, it can take from six months to one year to be seen by a MassHealth dentist. This bill will give thousands of people access to oral health care by allowing registered dental hygienists to practice in public health settings, such as public schools, Head Start programs, community health centers and nursing homes, without a dentist's supervision. - "An Act to Increase the Presence of Dental Hygienists on the Board of Registration in Dentistry"
This bill will increase the number of licensed dental hygienists on the board from one to three. Currently, licensed dentists in our state are represented by five dentists on the board. This bill will allow for more equal representation of dental hygienists on our profession's regulatory board.
To read the exact wording of the MDHA legislation, please click on the following:
Massachusetts Dental Society files legislation…
The Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS), filed legislation in January titled, "An Act Concerning Dental Auxiliaries." This legislation would create a new category of dental auxiliary called a "dental assistant with advanced training." This new class of dental assistant would be allowed to perform dental scaling on patients. When the dental society was asked how this class of dental assistant was specifically different from a dental hygienist, they did not have an answer. This legislation has the potential to squeeze out more qualified (and compensated) registered dental hygienists.
UPDATE: At the February Board of Trustees meeting, the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists' Association voted against supporting this legislation as it is written.
MDHA PROVIDES INPUT TO PATRICK TRANSITION TEAM
MDHA had the exciting opportunity to provide testimony on the state of oral health in Massachusetts to Governor-Elect Deval Patrick in early December. The Deval Patrick/Timothy Murray Transition Team’s Healthcare Working Group convened an open town meeting-style gathering to hear from concerned parties about issues affecting the health of the residents of our state. At least 75 individuals attended, representing a wide array of groups, although MDHA was the only group present to testify about oral health problems to the 10-member transition team and, thus, was able to focus attention toward ways that dental hygienists can help meet the demand for oral health care. This will be important as the transition team advises our new governor about the healthcare problems most requiring attention around our state.
Campaign 2006 Yields Potential for Dramatic Changes on Beacon Hill and Potential Opportunities for Dental Hygienists
By Charles Glick and Rosina Lucibello of Charles Group Consulting
On Election Day 2006, Massachusetts voters signaled significant change on Beacon Hill with the election of Milton resident Deval L. Patrick, the Commonwealth's first Democratic Governor in 16 years and the second African-American Governor to be elected in the nation. While it is unclear at the moment who will be serving under a Patrick administration, it is almost certain that he will have his pick of people from the health and human service advocacy, policy and delivery field in Massachusetts and even other experienced professionals around the country excited to be working in a progressive administration headed by a charismatic and dynamic leader. Time will only tell how the atmosphere and political culture will change on Beacon Hill with a Democratic Governor and a Democratic Legislature. However, it is a pretty safe bet that the next legislative session more than likely will bring significant change to the political flow in the State House and have an impact on legislative advocacy, including a new potential supporter for the work that dental hygienists perform in providing quality dental hygiene services and education.
For the contact information of the US Senators or Representatives for Massachusetts:
www.senate.gov
www.house.gov
www.mass.gov/legis/legis.htm
Copyright 2006 Massachusetts Dental Hygienists’ Association | Powered by SilverTech, Inc.