Provisions of Interest to Dentists in the  
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 

The following provides an updated summary of the provisions in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that will either directly or indirectly affect dentists. We have tried to
make this as accurate as possible but as federal agencies put forth their funding proposals, we
may have to update specific details in this document.
What does ARRA mean for the private practicing dentist?
• For dentists who expected to be subject to the AMT for tax year 2008, a provision
was added to delay the expansion of the Alternative Minimum Tax for 2008;
• For dentists thinking about purchasing new dental equipment, the bill extends current
law for either depreciating capital equipment purchases or expensing (Section 179)
those equipment items; and
• The bill makes more money available to dentists who seeking small business loans.
What does ARRA mean for dental students?
• For students interested in participating in the National Health Service Corps,
additional funds will be available for NHSC scholarships and loan repayment; and
• Dental schools and postgraduate dental education programs may be eligible for grants
to develop interdisciplinary curricula to integrate electronic health records into
clinical education.
What does ARRA mean for dental researchers?
• The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research expects to use new
funding to expand current grants and initiate new two-year grants; and
• New funding is also available for upgrading research facilities and equipment.
What does ARRA mean for dentists who participate in Medicaid?
• Private practitioners, including dentists, may qualify for Medicaid incentive payments
related to the adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT). For qualified
practitioners (30 percent Medicaid case share), Medicaid would reimburse a
significant share of both the costs of adopting HIT and/or reasonable administrative
costs; and
• The details of the reimbursement plans will be based on an individual states
implementation plan in coordination with HHS.

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What does ARRA mean for dentists who participate in Medicare?
• Medicare providers will be eligible to receive incentives to adopt certified electronic
health records beginning in 2011—these incentives will phase out by 2016;
• Eligibility to receive these incentives will depend on the provider demonstrating that
they are “meaningful users” of electronic health records;
• The phrase “meaningful user” will be determined by the Secretary of HHS; however,
in order to be a meaningful user, the dentist would have to adopt electronic health
records prior to qualifying for the incentive;
• After 2016, there will be penalties for failing to be a meaningful user of electronic
health records;
• The penalties will be a reduction in the Medicare reimbursement— a 1 percent per
year reduction with a maximum of 5 percent; and
• HHS will be developing specific requirements for electronic records to be certified as
well as the criteria to qualify for the incentives.
What does ARRA mean for state dental associations?
States will receive increased federal funding from October 11, 2008 to December 31, 2010. This
funding will increase the federal share of the costs of the state Medicaid program (FMAP) by 6.2
percent. States with large increases in unemployment would receive an additional increase in
their FMAP directly related to the increase in their unemployment rates. States that would
otherwise experience a drop in their FMAP under the normal FMAP formula would be held
harmless:
• State associations can use the new Medicaid money to maintain dental coverage for
optional populations and continue to argue for better provider reimbursement;
• State associations will need to work closely with their states to channel additional
funding for Medicaid into dental programs;
• States cannot qualify for this funding if they place or have placed (since July 1, 2008)
more restrictive eligibility requirements on their Medicaid program; however, if they
rescind these requirements states can qualify. This provision allows states that have
restrictions placed on their dental Medicaid programs to quickly get them overturned;
• A moratorium on implementing a federal regulation regarding outpatient hospital rates
that threatened states with hospital-affiliated dental clinics was included (until June 30,
2009); and
• State dental programs will be eligible to apply for prevention and wellness funding which
we expect to include additional funding for state dental infrastructure and fluoridation
grants.

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Summary by the ADA Government and Public Affairs Division 
March 9, 2009   
govtpol@ada.org 

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