{ association insights } The Responsibility of Membership S
ince becoming President of the MDA, three issues have developed which I would like to bring to
your attention.
First, at the order of Governor Greitens, the Dental Board was mandated to eliminate the words ‘must’ and ‘shall’ from the entire Dental Practice Act. They Board also was ordered to cut regula- tions deemed either redundant or unduly burdensome from the Practice Act. In the process of fulfilling that order, the Board decided that the sections of the Act that pertain to advertising, 20 CSR 2110-2.110 and 20 CSR 2110-2.111, should be eliminated. Is everybody ready for the Pain- less Parker era of advertising to return?
Second, in the current session, Rep. J. Eggleston filed a HB 1518, which reflects the opinion of some in contempo- rary society that dental health, along with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are unalienable rights.
The bill specifies that the highest rate a health care provider can accept from an individual that is not using dental insurance to help pay for dental care, shall be no more than the lowest rate accepted from a health carrier as payment in full for the same or similar health care services. Translation: your fee-for-service patients would instantly start using a PPO or Medicaid fee schedule to pay for the services you provide.
HB 1518, which MDA members advocated strongly against at this year’s legislative day, is now stalled in the legislature with no chance of being passed and signed into law this session. However, it is significant that a
8 focus | MAR/APR 2018 | ISSUE 2
representative thought enough of this idea to file a bill.
Third, politically outmaneuvered in the legislature by supporters of dental therapy, the Kansas Dental Association in cooperation with the Kansas Dental Hygiene Association, have written a compromise bill that would establish dental therapy in their state. At the time this column was written, the bill is working its way through the Kansas legis- lature. There is a distinct possibility we will eventually see dental therapists practicing in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City.
For the record, among the 50 states, Kansas ranks 37th in dentist-to-population ratio, while Missouri ranks 41st. Additionally, 10 counties in Missouri currently do not have a dentist, while another 55 counties have five or fewer dentists in the entire county. That is a little more than half the counties in the state. There are usually underlying economic
reasons why there are few dental practices in these areas of the state. However, those statistics are not helpful if you are trying to argue that ‘access to care’ is not really an issue.
Does any of this bother you? In a worst-case scenario, if enacted in Missouri, how do you think these three items would affect your practice and our profession over time? The MDA is opposed to eliminating the advertising sec- tions of the Dental Practice Act, HB1518 and the establishment of dental therapy in Missouri.
When surveyed, dentists uni- versally say that advocacy is the No. 1 item they want organized dentistry to provide its members.
As a benefit, advocacy is unique. Advocacy is an intangible benefit produced by the members themselves. To be effective, it must continually be developed and renewed. Without action taken by the MDA membership, advocacy does not exist. Advocacy is both a benefit and responsibility of membership.
People often get advocacy and lobbying confused. Advocacy is any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, supports, defends or argues for a cause. Lobbying is attempting to influence government leaders to create legislation or conduct an activity that will help an organization, and is one specific form of advocacy.
The situation in Kansas has been plagued by circumstances that did not bode well for this long-standing workforce battle in its legisla- ture. Two of these are no dental school and many areas of very sparse population, and as such, no dentist. So how did the Kansas Dental Association ultimately loose its nine-
