News from the Capitol

The Legislative Insider is published during the Legislative Session by the Georgia Dental Association. It contains updates on the activities of GDA's Government Affairs team as well as information about bills relevant to dentists and patient care.

Georgia Dentists May Now Request Limited PPE Through the ADA

Mar 19, 2024
The GDA is very pleased to announce that Georgia dentists are now eligible to submit requests for PPE through the ADA. Yesterday, you should have received the email below from Dr. Gehani with the details for submitting your requests. We have learned that this email may have been blocked by some email programs' spam settings, so please make sure to check your spam folder in case you did not receive it.   
 
Please note that your request may not be filled on your first attempt. As such, the GDA recommends that you submit your requests to the ADA on a weekly basis, similar to your state-level requests to GEMA/DPH via the state's ReadyOp Portal, and continue to source your own PPE through existing supply channels such as www.gdasupplies.com. We are also proud to announce that one of our Georgia Congressmen and GDA member, Dr. Drew Ferguson, was instrumental in urging FEMA to allocate PPE to the ADA for national distribution to dentists.  

DrGehani_edit_Small

Letter from the ADA

Limited PPE Available – Register to Request Your Shipment 

Over the last few weeks, ADA has been working with state and local dental societies to help secure masks and other PPE through their governors’ offices and state/local EMA agencies. Simultaneously, we have been meeting with the national FEMA agency, HHS, the White House and others to get PPE appropriated directly to dentists through the ADA and all possible channels. In addition, Henry Schein has been a wonderful partner collaborating alongside the ADA at the federal level and is anxious to resume serving dental professionals’ supply needs. 
 
Last week, ADA was allocated an allotment of 3M-made KN95 masks from the FEMA national office to dispense to dentists across the country. As these masks arrive, we will dispense them as quickly as possible to dentists. Since we expect to receive the masks in periodic allotments, we will be providing them as we receive them. 
 
The ADA is sending the masks to dentists in states that we know are broadly open for patients now and have not received PPE from other sources. We are utilizing survey information derived from HPI’s weekly surveys, as well as data provided to the ADA’s State Government Affairs Department, to prioritize the dissemination of the available PPE.
To request your allotment, please complete this registration form. 
 
You will be asked to do the following:
  1. Enter your ADA number (whether or not you are currently a member) and your Last Name.
  2. Verify or Edit your auto-populated information. Please pay close attention to the shipping address.
  3. Confirm your request to receive an allotment of KN95 masks.
  4. Enter your payment information for your $26.50 reimbursement fee.
 
The ADA is NOT charging for the masks themselves as they were provided by FEMA at no cost. The ADA is NOT profiting on these masks - charging only to recoup actual costs to receive, re-package, ship via UPS through our fulfillment partner PBD and credit card / processing fees. 
 
We strongly encourage you to complete your request immediately, as supplies are limited. 
 
Orders will be processed in the order they are received from each group of prioritized states. Once you complete your online request and pay the reimbursement fee, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow up to 10 business days to receive your allotment. 
 
If inventory is not available when you complete your request, you will be placed on a “waiting list” (back order) and informed of such. ADA will then send your allotment if and when we receive more product from FEMA. If additional inventory is not received, your $26.50 fee will be reversed on your credit card.
 
Thank you for your continued membership and support of the American Dental Association. We wish we were able to send more PPE but hope this helps in the short-term. Based on many conversations with manufacturers, distributors and federal agencies, we hope to see the supply and demand imbalance of PPE for dental professionals improve over the summer and be rectified by September/October.
 
We wish you safety and health.
 
Sincerely,

Signature_Gehani small          Signature_OLoughlin small

Dr. Chad P. Gehani                                  Dr. Kathleen T. O'Loughlin
President                                                  Executive Director