VDA member dentists met with members of our Virginia delegation in Congress today in Washington, D.C., asking them to address workforce issues, improve the dental Medicaid system, reform insurance rules, and pass student loan protections. 

VDA member Dr. Mark Crabtree also led a panel discussion for 700 dentists and dental students gathered in Washington for the ADA Dentist and Student Lobby Day about federal DOC access legislation, that would prevent insurers from holding dentists to fees for services they don’t cover, strong-arming dentists into participating in plans for network access, providing unreasonably minimal compensation for services rendered, and forcing dentists into participating in contracts in excess of 2 years. 

Watch for updates from the VDA and ADA on how you can help advance these important policies in the weeks ahead. 

This week at Lobby Day, VDA members Dr. Bruce Hutchison and Dr. Kirk Norbo were also recognized with special awards for their service and contributions to organized dentistry through the ADA and 16^th District Chairman, Dr. Gary Oyster, was honored with a Lifelong Legacy Award. 

After her special election, Virginia Representative Jennifer McClellan will be officially sworn in today at 6:15pm in Washington.