LDA - Louisiana Dental Association

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LDA council on government affairs Dr. Maurice B. “Marty” Garrett Chair, Council on Government Affairs The 2012 Legislative Session began Monday, March 12, and is shaping up to be another tough fiscal struggle to provide funding for the needs of our state’s citizens. Your LDA Board and Council on Government Affairs (CGA) has once again placed Medicaid funding as our top priority to protect in the upcoming session. As you are aware, Dr. Don Donaldson and his Medicaid task Force have made great strides in the last decade to improve Medicaid reimbursement and increase dentist participation in the program. It is crucial that this progress be protected by the lobbying efforts of your LDA. The LDA is also supporting other improvements in access to oral health care by supporting programs like Donated Dental Services and community water fluoridation. The LDA will continue its pledge to support the LSU School of Dentistry by our efforts to avoid further budget cuts to the school. The LDA is working closely with Dean Henry Gremillion and LSUHSC Director of External Relations Chris Vidrine to do whatever is necessary/needed to help the school and voice our support to the legislators. While the Governor’s executive budget does not contain cuts to Higher Education in total, it is not clear that the funding will be distributed in a manner that protects the dental school from further cuts. An example of an effective bill your LDA is sponsoring is a dental benefit consultant bill which will improve current legislation in several areas. The bill will ensure that dental benefit consultants who deny claims to our state’s dentists are at least qualified and accountable. The bill would require the dentist denying a claim to be licensed in the U.S. In addition, having the contact information for the dentist denying a claim will facilitate improved communication between the treating dentist and the consultant making the adverse determination. As many of you are aware, the joint task force of It is Session Time! Watch for Emails and Updates from the LDA LDA members and Louisiana State Board of Dentistry board members after much debate have agreed to January 2013 date for AED’s to be required in all dental offices. The LDA will promote a bill this session to work on a tax credit/rebate for health professionals who purchase AED’s. This is another fine example of your LDA providing member benefits. During the legislative session, things move quickly, so make sure to watch the LDA website at www.ladental.org and emails from the LDA that ask that you contact your legislator. We make things as easy as possible for you by writing the letter/email for you! Your CGA strongly encourages you to stay abreast of legislative issues and voice your concerns to your representatives. Along with both LADPAC and DAP- PAC, we hosted Dentists’ Day at the Legislature on March 28, 2012. This gave dentists the opportunity to meet with representatives of the administration on key areas of policy. After these briefings, we visited with individual legislators to discuss specific legislation and then hosted a reception at the Pentagon Barracks. If you weren’t able to attend this year, please consider joining us in the future at this grassroots event to promote good oral health for our citizens. Watch for emails and updates from the LDA and visit our website at www.ladental.org 8 LDA Journal
LDA ladpac Dr. David Kestel Chair, Louisiana Dental Political Action Committee (LADPAC) The holidays came and went and we are well into another new year! As a kid, it seemed like Christmas took forever to get here, but as an adult, I think it comes around at least twice a year! I hope you saw your name in the LADPAC contribution list on the following pages of this LDA Journal. If not (and you haven’t already made your contribution with your 2012 dues), you NEED to join. LADPAC is part of our power as organized dentists in organized dentistry! Separately, we could never accomplish what we have done collectively for Support LADPAC and Keep Organized Dentistry Working for Us our profession. You can still send your contribution into the LDA office to be sure your name appears in our donor list for 2012. Also, I want to remind you that we will begin selling raffle tickets for the “Split the Pot” Raffle during the New Orleans Dental Conference and LDA Annual Session in New Orleans in April. Please support LADPAC and purchase tickets for a chance to win. Thanks again for everyone who is supporting LADPAC. You DO make a difference. Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! Call 1-800-232-3826 for a free practice appraisal, a $2,500 value! AFTCO is the oldest and largest dental practice transition consulting firm in the United States. AFTCO assists dentists with associateships, purchasing and selling of practices, and retirement plans. We are there to serve you through all stages of your career. Jonathan B. Turgeon, D.D.S. has acquired the practice of Christopher R. Haygood, D.D.S. Bossier City, Louisiana AFTCO is pleased to have represented both parties in this transaction. Helping dentists buy & sell practices for over 40 years. WWW.AFTCO.NET Spring 2012 9
Page 1: VOL. 71, NO. 1 SPRING 2012 Journal
Page 4 and 5: LDA from the editor Dr. David N. Au
Page 6 and 7: LDA feature Interview with the Pres
Page 8: Dr. Hooton (center) and his four da
Page 13 and 14: Dr. George T. Comeaux, Jr. Dr. Bria
Page 15 and 16: Dr. Gwen Corbett, a Fortress Dentis
Page 17 and 18: Third-year student Brendan Mack (to
Page 19 and 20: The Hottest Hands On Topics in Dent
Page 21 and 22: LDA benefits byline Stormy Blair Se
Page 23 and 24: WHEN FACED WITH A MALPRACTICE CLAIM
Page 25 and 26: federal Anti-Kickback statute prohi
Page 27 and 28: LDA nodc/lda annual session Dr. Cla
Page 29 and 30: LDA wealth management Chad Olivier,
Page 31 and 32: Stephen A. Chapman Stephen R. Hoope
Page 33 and 34: DENTAL PRACTICE TRANSITIONS Justin
Page 35 and 36: Madie Jones, a member of the LSU vo
Page 37 and 38: Louisiana Dental Advertising Consul
Page 39 and 40: Celebrating 50 and 25 Years OF MEMB
Page 41 and 42: Visit www.ladental.org for more inf
Page 43 and 44: 2012 Spring/Summer Courses For upda
Page 45 and 46: DATE: COURSE TITLE: SPONSOR: LOCATI
Page 47 and 48: LDA/LDS Endorsed Companies As you l

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