The American Dental Association is concerned with the possible regulatory burdens and cost of a proposed provision of the Affordable Care Act.
Five things to know:
1. The provision, Section 1557, prohibits healthcare entities that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability and sex.
2. In a Sept. 23 letter to the HHS Office for Civil Rights, ADA President Cesar Sabates, DDS, and Executive Director Raymond Cohlmia, DDS, said that while the ADA supports nondiscrimination in healthcare and equal access, it is concerned the provision is not "the best or most effective way" of ensuring nondiscrimination.
3. The ADA is also concerned with how the regulatory requirements will affect dentists, including the proposed effective date being 60 days after the final rule. The ADA execs said in a Sept. 29 news release that dental practices will need more time to comply with requirements.
4. The organization with the estimated cost of $240 million from requiring Notices of Availability be provided in English and 15 other most common languages at minimum.
5. The ADA said it would be more effective for individual dental practices to focus on providing information in common languages spoken among their patient pool because languages can vary by the location of each dental practice.