The ADA advocates tirelessly to keep federal rules and regulations reasonable, effective, and evidence-based—for dentists and patients alike. Though not exhaustive, below is a list of regulatory issues garnering attention at the national level.
Regulatory Reform
Learn what the ADA is doing minimize the regulatory burden on dental practices.
- Webinar: "Federal Regulatory Panel on Dental Interoperability and Data Exchange". The panel, held March 13, 2024, brought together representatives of federal regulatory agencies to discuss the evolving health information landscape, current opportunities for oral health participation in health information exchange, and the trajectory for future regulation. (YouTube)
- Webinar: The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Technology hosted the webinar “Advancing Information Sharing and Understanding the Information Blocking Regulations.” (YouTube) The one hour webinar covers key aspects of information blocking regulations and explains how the rule applies to dental practices. Visit ADA.org/advocacy.
Federal Agencies
- June 20, 2023 — Comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on the proposed rule on health data, technology, and interoperability. (PDF)
- March 20, 2023 — Letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule on electronic health care attachments (PDF)
- March 13, 2023 — Comments from the American Dental Association (ADA) and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) on the interoperability and prior authorization proposed rule. (PDF)
- December 8, 2021 — Coalition letter behalf of the Oral Health Pandemic Response Workgroup to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP, asking to convene key individuals and organizations to examine the current status of the integration of medical care and dental care data and develop plans to promote oral health policies. (PDF)
- FACT SHEET — Cures Act Rule on Information Blocking and Interoperability.(PDF)
In Congress
- September 22, 2023 — ADA response sent to Ranking Member Cassidy of the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's request for comment about his white paper/framework for the regulation of AI in health care. (PDF)
In Congress
- March 26, 2025 — Letter to U.S. House of Representatives on the opportunity to provide input to the Privacy Working Group regarding the development of a federal comprehensive data privacy and security framework. (PDF)
- December 6, 2024 — Letter to Senators Wyden and Warner Commenting on S. 5218, the Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act of 2024. (PDF)
Federal Agencies
- January 31, 2023 — ADA Comments on HHS’ proposal to better align the requirements of two regulations governing the confidentiality of patient substance use disorder records: HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2. (PDF)
- May 6, 2021 — Comments on the HHS Office of Civil Rights on HIPAA proposed privacy rules to support and remove barriers to coordinated care. (PDF)
- February 12, 2019 — Comments responding to an HHS Office of Civil Rights request for information about potential unintended consequences of modifying HIPAA privacy rules to support and remove barriers to coordinated care. (PDF)
Federal Agencies
- April 1, 2025 — Letter to The Honorable Jameison Greer to express our concern about the impact of tariffs on medical and dental supplies, equipment, and devices. (PDF)
- August 20, 2020 — Comments on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed health breach notification rule, which would require vendors of personal health records and related entities to notify consumers following a breach involving unsecured information. (PDF)
- July 11, 2019 — Letter urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate false claims made by SmileDirect, LLC to entice consumers to purchase its products and services. (PDF)
- June 28, 2019 — Comments regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) efforts to combat unlawful robocalls and malicious caller ID spoofing. (PDF)
In Congress
- April 15, 2025 — Letter to U.S. Representatives and Senate on Community Water Fluoridation. (PDF)
- FACT SHEET — Corporate Transparency Act Information for Dental Practices (PDF)
Federal Agencies
- March 31, 2025 — Letter to House of Representatives on support for H.R. 1758, The Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act. (PDF)
- March 26, 2025 — Letter to Request for support for Funding of Programs to Dentistry and Oral Health in Fiscal Year 2026. (PDF)
- March 24, 2025 — Support Letter for Maintaining and Strengthening the CMS Chief Dental Officer Role. (PDF)
- March 12, 2025 — Letter to Senator Rounds and Congressman Norman on CRA support letter. (PDF)
- March 7, 2025 — CHIME HIPPA Security Rule Comments and CHIME Stakeholder Letter. (PDF)
- March 5, 2025 — Letter to Honorable Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the opportunity for a meeting to discuss how we can work together on priorities. (PDF)
- March 5, 2025 — Letter to Honorable Lee Zeldin on the priorities of the ADA. (PDF)
- March 4, 2025 — Letter to The Honorable Donald J. Trump Regarding the Economic Impact of Increased Duties on the Dental Industries and the Oral Health Community. (PDF)
- February 25, 2025 — Letter to Honorable Jason Smith and Honorable Vern Buchanan on Hearing on Modernizing American Health Care: Creating Healthy Options and Better Incentives. (PDF)
- February 5, 2025 — Letter to HHS on Dietary Guidelines. (PDF)
- January 28, 2025 — Statement for the Record regarding Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Nomination to by Secretary of Health and Human Services. (PDF)
- January 28, 2025 — Letter to Congress on Clarification on OMB Directive and Impacts on Oral Health Grants. (PDF)
- January 27, 2025 — Comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Regarding Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Programs (CMS-4202-P) (PDF)
- January 17, 2025 — Trump Transition ADA Comments. (PDF)
- January 3, 2025 — Comments on the Department of Veterans Affairs Dental Hygienist Standard of Practice. (PDF)
- August 31, 2023 — Comments on the Request for Information Regarding Medical Payment Products. (PDF)
- January 5, 2023 — Comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on deceptive online reviews. (PDF)
- December 6 2022 — Comments to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) request for information (RFI) on the possibility of establishing a National Directory of Healthcare Providers & Services (NDH) that could serve as a “centralized data hub” for healthcare provider facility and entity directory information nationwide. (PDF)
- November 14, 2022 — Comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the request for information on surprise billing. (PDF)
- September 23, 2022 — Letter to HHS on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Section 1557, Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities. (PDF)
- September 6, 2022 — Letter to the HRSA Chief Dental Officer on Title VII grants, Health Professional Shortage Areas, Action for Dental Health, and Investment in Primary Care. (PDF)
- February 15, 2022 — Letter to the new Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator outlining the ADA's priorities for the agency. (PDF)
- December 8, 2021 — Coalition letter on behalf of the Oral Health Pandemic Response Workgroup asking the Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral (ADM), Rachel L. Levine, MD to provide leadership throughout the Department to ensure that oral health is recognized as integral to overall health and included, as appropriate, in HHS’ activities and deliberations. (PDF)
- November 5, 2021 — Comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on its draft strategic plan for fiscal years 2022-2026. (PDF)
- July 29, 2019 — Comments responding to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) request for information about ways to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for clinicians, providers, patients and their families. (PDF)
- January 31, 2019 — Letter urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to clarify whether dentists must purchase surety bonds if they are providing obstructive sleep apnea devices (oral appliances) to Medicare beneficiaries. (PDF)
- November 19, 2018 — Letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on their proposal to remove the requirement to provide or obtain routine emergency dental care for hospital and critical access hospital swing-bed patients. (PDF)