On March 21, several dental workforce bills had a public hearing in the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee and subsequently passed out of the Committee on March 23. The Legislature will continue to devote most of its time to Committee work until opposite house policy cutoff on March 29. Read for an update on WSDA’s week 11 activities in Olympia.

The Department of Health has filed a CR-103 to increase dental licensure fees. The increase will become effective June 1, 2023.

The ADA is asking the Federal Trade Commission to help protect dental practices from dishonest or misleading reviews on social media sites.

Dental providers and facilities are “generally required to provide uninsured patients with a good faith estimate of expected charges” unless the patient is enrolled in an excepted benefit plan or coverage such as a stand-alone dental plan, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid.

Read the latest newsletter from the Dental Quality Assurance Commission (DQAC).

WSDA wants you to be aware that dental offices in our state have been the subject of lawsuits concerning rest and meal periods for employees. Please confirm that you are in compliance with all related requirements.

During week ten, the Legislature returned to Committee to hear and amend bills from the opposite chamber. The Legislature will devote most of their time to Committee work until opposite house policy cutoff on March 29. Read for an update on WSDA’s week ten activities in Olympia.

WSDA wants you to be aware that dental offices in our state have been the subject of lawsuits concerning rest and meal periods for employees. This legal alert summarizes certain aspects of the current Washington state law regarding rest and meal periods applicable to the non-exempt employees in dental practices.

In 2019, the ADA filed a class action lawsuit against the Delta Dental Plans and the Delta Dental Plans Association, and in January, the federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois amended its scheduling order to allow the parties additional time to conduct discovery.

March 8 was house of origin cutoff, the third major milestone of the 2023 legislative session. This means that bills, with the exception of those necessary to implement the budget, must have been voted out of their respective chamber by March 8 in order to stay “alive” and move forward in the legislative process. Read for an update on WSDA’s week nine activities in Olympia.

Review information and resources from the Employment Security Department (ESD) March 2023 newsletter.

Register for the March 21 webinar "What Emergency Medicine Providers Want Dentists to Know About Opioids," presented by the ADA’s Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention (CAAP) Emergency Department Referral Initiative.

On March 5, the Legislature passed several dental-specific and workforce bills out of the House of Representatives. During week eight, the Legislature devoted their time to debating and voting bills out of their respective chamber of origin. Read for an update on WSDA’s week eight activities in Olympia.

For more than three years, the Dental Quality Assurance Commission (DQAC) has been working to update Washington state’s dental anesthesia rules. WSDA encourages members to review the proposed rules and submit questions or concerns via email or virtually at DQAC's March 10 business meeting.

Eligible dentists are able to apply for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program now through April 25, 2023.

With certain exceptions, health care providers are no longer required to wear an N95 respirator, including when performing aerosol generating procedures. Read for more details and exceptions to this updated COVID requirement.

Effective April 3, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) will end the Secretary of Health Statewide Face Covering Order currently in effect for health care (including dental).

A dental office is considered to be a place of public accommodation and thus is prohibited from discriminating for any reason due to a disability. Accordingly, dental offices are required to provide an interpreter if one is needed to effectively communicate with a hearing-impaired patient.