NY, NY – APRIL 25, 2019 – The Santa Fe Group, an action-oriented think tank with a passion to improve oral health for the public, today announced its 2019 Salon “Comprehensive Health Without Oral Health: The Medicare Paradox,” from May 8-10 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. More than 25 leading educators, researchers, policy makers, consumer advocates and business leaders will present at this interactive program that will convene 200 of our nation's leading healthcare change agents to focus on the critical need for Medicare to include oral health benefits as a component of overall health care. 

"Our Salon empowers attendees with compelling data confirming the significant economic and total health benefits of putting 'teeth' in Medicare. This data underscores the best practices of the private insurance sector, which should inspire federal and state agencies to help effect policy change," said Santa Fe Group President Dr. Michael Alfano. "The Salon builds upon the movement that's taken hold in the last five years, with 85 prestigious organizations joining us to call for expansion of Medicare to include basic dental services for individuals with medical need. Further, a bipartisan group of Senate and House members have called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to expand dental care in Medicare. The time is now to join this movement and help challenge the system for the public good." 

Featured presentations at the 2019 Salon include: 

Congresswoman Donna Shalala - As the longest serving Secretary of Health and Human Services in U.S. history, who commissioned the first ever Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health, Ms. Shalala will present her perspective, now nearly two decades later, on the progress she believes has been made as well as what further change needs to be made either at the legislative or administrative level. 

AARP National Volunteer President Dr. Catherine Alicia Georges - Will speak to how the inclusion of an oral health benefit in Medicare and Medicaid could help to stem the negative health and financial impact on individuals without it; AARP's policy and advocacy recommendations; and what actions AARP believes would meet seniors' oral health benefit needs. 

Henry Schein, Inc. Chairman & CEO, Stanley M. Bergman – Will highlight perceived obstacles to the interoperability of current and future electronic health record systems and the maximum benefit to the patient when the exchange of information is facilitated among all health care providers, across a variety of health care delivery settings. 

New York State [NYS] Department of Health, Research Scientist, Kevin Malloy, & Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine, Clinical Professor, Dept. of Periodontolgy, Dr. Ira B. Lamster - Will present the exclusive findings from an extensive, novel analysis of NYS Medicaid dental care data across adult patients, bringing to light the substantial positive economic and health impact of dental care in Medicaid populations. 

Marketing for Change Co., CEO, Peter Mitchell & DentaQuest Partnership, President, Alison Gregg Corcoran - Will present how public momentum is building for dental benefits in Medicare, the results of "we have teeth and we vote" outreach programs in three states during the 2018 election, and what motivates citizens 50+ to take action on this important issue. 

Liberty Partners Group, Principal, Eric Berger - Will highlight the call to action to achieve better care at lower costs for people in need of medically necessary oral healthcare, as well as the community effort that has enlisted organizations across the nation to join the movement to put "#TeethinMedicare. 

Additional presenters and panelists include: 

• Michael Monopoli, D.M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Executive Director, Grant Making Strategy, DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement 

• Chet Douglass, D.M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Harvard School of Dental Medicine 

• Marko Vujicic, Ph.D., Chief Economist & Vice President, Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association 

• Robert Lewando D.D.S., M.B.A., Executive Director, Dental Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts 

• Paul Manos, D.D.S., Dental Director, Professional Affairs, United Concordia 

• George J. Isham, M.D., M.S., Senior Fellow, HealthPartners Institute 

• Anita D. Glicken, M.S.W., Executive Director, National Inter-professional Initiative on Oral Health (NIIOH) and Professor Emerita, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Pioneer Leader of the Physician Assistant Oral Health Leadership Initiative 

• Hugh Silk, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health UMass, UMass Medical School, Medical Director, Primary Care Wellness Center/Community Healthlink 

• Rita Jablonski, Ph.D., C.R.N.P., F.A.A.N., F.G.S.A., Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing.Anthony A. Miller, M.Ed., PA-C, Distinguished Professor & Director, Division of Physician Assistant Studies, Shenandoah University 

• Anthony A. Miller, M.Ed., PA-C, Distinguished Professor & Director, Division of Physician Assistant Studies, Shenandoah University 

• William Scanlon, Ph.D., Consultant, West Health 

• Meg Booth, M.P.H., Executive Director, Children’s Dental Health Project 

• Burton Edelstein, D.D.S., M.P.H.,B.A., Founding Chair Emeritus and Senior Fellow in Public Policy, Children’s Dental Health Project, Washington D.C. and Professor of Dental Medicine and Health Policy & Management, Columbia University Irving Medical Center 

• David Gesko, D.D.S., F.A.C.D., Dental Director & Senior Vice President, Health Partners 

• Patrick Willard, Senior Director of State and National Strategic Partnerships, Families USA 

• Lindsey A. Robinson, D.D.S., Diplomate, A.B.P.D. 

• Patrick T. Courneya, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, National Health Plan and Hospitals Quality, Kaiser Permanente 

To see the full agenda and to learn more, please visit: SantaFeGroup.org 

About the Santa Fe Group 

The Santa Fe Group is an action-oriented think tank with a passion to improve oral health for the public. Its members work across multiple groups of stakeholders to foster policy, analyze and disseminate health program and policy information, create networks of concerned citizens from all walks of life, develop advocacy programs to promote change for improved health, and convene professionals from across all sectors to access leading public health research and best practices to effect policy change. Since its inception more than 25 years ago, the Santa Fe Group has been instrumental in raising awareness and moving the needle on critical issues such as oral cancer, dental education reform, children's oral health, improved primary care access, the importance of linking medical and dental health systems, and most recently, expanding oral healthcare for our nation's seniors. To learn more, please visit: SantaFeGroup.org