NADP Insights – April 2020

April 2020

by Board Chair Ron Bolden, Cigna

In this time of crisis and uncertainty, NADP continues to deliver meaningful resources and represent us to key audiences. This month alone, NADP volunteers and staff advanced the dental benefits industry on multiple fronts, and I’d like to highlight some of these contributions.

Oral Health System Pandemic Response Workgroup: Representing NADP members to the nation’s oral health care system, NADP Executive Director Eme Augustini provided updates regarding the dental benefits industry’s response to the pandemic as part of an Oral Health System Pandemic Response WG organized by DentaQuest. Through her participation, NADP is part of the conversation regarding how to stabilize the oral health care system and achieve the following objectives:

• Develop a list of key elements across sectors needed to stabilize the oral health provider/care system
• Guide consumers in accessing urgent care needed during the pandemic
• Ensure continued connection between people and their oral health

Codes Sub-WorkGroup: Members of the Codes Sub-WorkGroup provided keen insight and analysis to direct NADP’s representation during a recent emergency meeting of the American Dental Association’s Code Maintenance Committee’s (CMC). The CMC unanimously (with one member absent) voted to approve two (2) new 2021 codes for coronavirus testing.

Advocacy Volunteer Groups: NADP’s advocacy program, powered by the Commission on Advocacy Policy (CAP), the Government Funded Programs WorkGroup (GFP WG) and the Government Relations WorkGroup (GRW) continuously represent our industry on multiple issues. Recent highlights include:

• A letter to Congressional leadership seeking federal subsidization of COBRA premiums for the newly unemployed and a special enrollment period for the Federally Facilitated Exchanges.
• Comment letter seeking clarification from the Small Business Administration that dental plan premiums and costs paid by employers are included in the definition of “payroll costs” in the Paycheck Protection Program.
  
• New COVID-19 Tracking Grid with tabs for tele-health, grace periods, and carrier filing requirements.

In addition, the GRW continues to monitor state activities regarding COVID-19, including the state orders impacting potential re-opening of dental offices, and schedules of state legislative sessions.

Research Department: In addition to fielding annual survey instruments, the Research department launched a series of quick-scans about the industry’s respond to COVID-19, which will be fielded every two weeks. The first scan in the series gathered information about premium grace periods.

Education Commission: To provide professional development opportunities throughout the year, the Education Commission identified topics for 2020 webinars and will now work to secure presenters. In addition, the CONVERGE early bird registration rates have been extended to June 30 as a response to current travel policies during the pandemic.

Operations WorkGroup: A Credentialing Sub-WorkGroup (SWG) is assisting with testing and offering feedback to CAQH on the ProView credentialing database. This month, the SWG viewed a CAQH presentation about the latest changes to ProView. The Operations SWG previously reviewed the Dental ProView product and returned detailed comments to make the user experience Dental focused and easier, faster to complete. This group meets quarterly with CAQH to review the implementation of changes. Thus, our NADP volunteers are an integral part of the continued development of this industry resource.

Communications WorkGroup: To demonstrate the value of dental benefits, the Communications WorkGroup continues to update WhyDental.Org with new content. This month, the WorkGroup created an Oral Health Studies webpage in the “About” section and added a value proposition, to the Employer section.

The above list is just a sampling of the work performed by NADP on your behalf. I encourage you to read the remainder of this newsletter for additional details and insights regarding the work of our volunteers and their contributions to NADP core services.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the direction of NADP, please contact me.