ADA urges HHS to include dentists in future Provider Relief Fund phases

Washington — The ADA is urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to continue including dentists in future phases of the Provider Relief Fund.

In an Aug. 23 letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, ADA President Daniel J. Klemmedson, D.D.S., M.D., and Executive Director Kathleen T. O’Loughlin, D.M.D., thanked the department for “its continued strong support of dentists” during COVID-19 and requested that “any future open phases of applications to the Provider Relief Fund again be open to dentists as was the case in past distributions.”

The HHS Provider Relief Fund was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act to reimburse eligible providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund provided up to $100 billion in funding for health care providers and an additional $75 billion was appropriated in the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.

“With the remaining funds of the PRF, we again call on HHS to allow dentists to apply for relief funding in future phases of distribution,” Drs. Klemmedson and O’Loughlin wrote. “The current outlook of the pandemic remains uncertain and dentists must be able to be equipped to provide oral health care services to Americans without closing.”

“To be able to remain open is essential to our health care system and dentists accessing PRF payments has been a crucial source of financial recoupment. Continued access to this fund will allow dentists to cover lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 or health-related expenses purchased to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus,” the letter concluded.

For more information on the ADA’s advocacy efforts, visit ADA.org/Advocacy .