THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION OF THE VDA – ADVOCACY Ryan L. Dunn

THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION OF THE VDA – ADVOCACY

Ryan L. Dunn, VDA CEO

I’m writing this after our House of Delegates met over the weekend in Williamsburg. Our staff and our members I know were disappointed by the cancellation of the Virginia Meeting’s CE and social events, as we balance safety and the ability to deliver on the experience our members and exhibitors expect for in-person meetings. We will be continuing to adjust to the ongoing pandemic and working with other state dental associations on a path back to inperson meetings. In the meantime, expect to see many of the CE offerings from the Virginia Meeting presented in a virtual format over the next several months.

I am grateful for the tireless work that our outgoing VDA president Dr. Frank Iuorno, Jr. put in during his term leading the association. Dr. Iuorno is a true servant leader who didn’t wait until he had the title of president to make a lasting positive impact on the association and we will continue to rely on his wisdom and insight as we move forward.

I hope you’ll also join me in welcoming our new executive committee, led by Dr. Scott Berman as president, our PresidentElect, Dr. Cindy Southern and Treasurer Dr. Zaneta Hamlin. My message today, and the focus of our discussions in Williamsburg, is going to be on the most important and unique function of the VDA: Advocacy.

Virginia is electing a Governor, Attorney General, Lt. Governor and 100 members of the House of Delegates this year. Early voting has started, so I encourage you now – make your plan to vote and educate yourself on where the candidates stand on the issues that are important to you and important to the profession. The VDA has built a trusted reputation with policymakers in the Commonwealth because we advocate for policies that are good for our patients and we have worked tirelessly to establish and maintain close relationships with legislators in both parties.

“This could be a tremendously consequential year for oral healthcare policy at the state and federal level.”

On the following page, you can find QR code links to videos from Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin, sharing their views on oral healthcare policy for VDA members ahead of the upcoming election. Please watch the videos, do your own research on the candidates for all offices and make your plan to vote.

In Virginia, we have a big legislative session coming up in which we’ll be asking for a significant increase in Medicaid reimbursements, addressing oral healthcare workforce solutions, and working to address pain points with third party payers.

Our credibility on these issues and our seat at the table in which they’re debated relies in a large part on the strength of our membership and on the strength of our PAC. Statewide election years like this one are the most important to have a robust impact from our PAC, and I strongly encourage you to join your fellow VDA members in increasing your involvement with the PAC at vadental.

org/vda-pac

This could be a tremendously consequential year for oral healthcare policy at the state and federal level with fast-moving debate around a dental Medicare benefit. ADA Senior VP of Government Affairs Mike Graham correctly laid out the stakes for the federal Medicare package this week on Tooth Talk:

“If we don’t get dentistry 100 percent involved in this right now, the way Congress writes this bill could fundamentally change how dentists practice. And I don’t mean just some dentists. I mean every dental practice could change.”

We have had hundreds of members respond to the ADA’s call-to-action campaign around the Medicare benefit over the last couple weeks and I encourage you to watch for future text alerts (Text “VDA” to 52886) and continue to reach out to your representatives to ensure that any benefit passed works for both patients and providers. Thank you for continuing to be engaged. Our Government Affairs and Advocacy teams will be keeping members up-to-date on policy issues that could impact your practice as we move into the next year and our staff remains available as a resource for you as individual issues come up.