Here are 10 federal updates from the last 30 days that dental leaders should know:
1. The American Dental Association is urging the federal government to retain the Head Start program’s oral health requirements.
2. President Donald Trump signed a resolution that extends federal agency funding at fiscal year 2026 levels through Dec. 11, including several programs that support oral health, dental research and the dental workforce.
3. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network finalized a rule that permanently exempts U.S. small businesses, including the vast majority of dental practices, from beneficial ownership information reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act.
4. The Trump administration said it will mail $500 checks to nearly one million Americans in 30 states to refund what it called “overcharges” from ACA exchange fees collected under the Biden administration.
5. HHS selected four senior leaders for the FDA, including directors for the agency’s drug, biologics and tobacco centers and its first deputy commissioner focused on technology and artificial intelligence.
6. Canada’s Department of Finance said that it will impose counter-tariffs on U.S. goods, effective Sept. 8, in response to President Donald Trump’s 50% tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods that took effect Aug. 22.
7. The Department of Homeland Security is proposing a new $103,265 fee for H-1B petitions, just months after a federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s earlier attempt to impose a similar charge.
8. Senate Democrats on Aug. 17 called on federal officials to end Medicaid enrollee data sharing with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
9. The Trump administration has deleted or altered nearly 400 federal datasets since taking office, with health data accounting for the largest share of changes, according to a tracker updated Aug. 17 by dataindex.us, a group of data policy experts, researchers and developers.
10. Medicaid spending could fall 10% to 25% in 17 states under new limits on state-directed payments if affected payments do not receive temporary grandfathered status from CMS.
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