Dear Colleague,
What an exciting time it is for dentistry in Arkansas! Our unified advocacy campaign achieved overwhelming legislative victories concerning Medicaid fee increases and special needs patient care. We’ve defended community water fluoridation in Arkansas and brought national media attention to this critical public health initiative. We’ve welcomed the inaugural class of the Lyon College School of Dental Medicine, with many ASDA members serving as faculty members and administrators.
While 2025 was exciting, 2026 brought a largescale challenge. Right before the new year, Arkansas Department of Health Services (DHS) outright and unilaterally has taken the position that it does not intend to set rules to implement Act 1025, a seminal piece of legislation that provides for a dental Medicaid fee increase, is not eligible for implementation. As such, the agency asks for permission not to take further action. DHS initially delayed implementation which the law required to go into effect September 1, 2025. ASDA worked with specialty associations to find compromises with DHS and put the law into effect. Throughout this whole process, DHS has refused to fully cooperate or comply with our requests or those of the Centers for Medicaid Services (CMS).
As ASDA’s legal counsel Trevor Hawkins intuitively stated in his letter to DHS Secretary Janet Mann, “DHS’s obligation is not satisfied by identifying obstacles, but by engaging those pathways in good faith. Declining to do so risks converting routine federal review questions into a de facto nullification of duly enacted state law.” His letter, CMS’s request for more information and the letter from DHS stating its intention to ignore Act 1025, are attached for reference.
Your ASDA Executive Council has voted unanimously to lock horns with DHS, whose actions threaten to weaken the dental profession and barricades access to care for Arkansas’ most vulnerable patients. We have and will not sit idle while Act 1025 remains wrongfully unimplemented and are exploring every avenue to ensure its enactment. But most importantly, we need you on our side. So please watch for a call to action in the coming days on the messaging you can give to your state legislators highlighting just how critical it is that we get this law implemented.
Our Association is strongest when our members are actively engaged. So whether it’s legislative advocacy, teaching the next generation of dentists, or becoming a leader at the local or state level, we appreciate your dedication to strengthening the dental profession in Arkansas and delivering the highest level of patient care.
Respectfully,
Kenton Ross, DMD
President, Arkansas State Dental Association
