News, Activities and Acheivements
Breaking News for Medicaid
providers of The State of New York :
The following memorandum was issued by
Roy E. Lasky, Executive Director, New York State Dental Association.
To: NYSDA Board of Governors
From: Roy E. Lasky, Executive Director
Re: Medicaid
Date: 16 August 2004
The Legislature passed a budget last
week rejecting Governor Pataki’s proposal to eliminate fee-for-service
dentistry in the state’s Medicaid program. As you recall, the Governor
had proposed a budget that would have required all Medicaid recipients
to receive dental care via either Article 28 facilities (hospitals) or
managed care. Everyone involved in NYSDA’s efforts to maintain the
Medicaid program in its current form should be proud, specially those
dentists who worked with us by contacting legislators and raising
awareness.
While the Legislature’s action is a
significant political victory, the battle is not over. New York simply
has a two-way budget, an agreement between the Assembly and the
Senate, which the Governor has threatened to veto. If this occurs,
negotiations will begin anew and we will have to redouble our efforts
in this critical area; however, gaining the Legislature’s support is
extremely significant and I am reasonably confident that, at the end
of the day, we will be successful in protecting the interests of our
membership as well as the poor people they serve.
In the meantime, I will keep you
informed of any new developments and don’t hesitate to contact me if
you have any further questions.
cc: Component Executive Directors
Medicaid Providers
Council on Dental Health Planning &
Hospital Dentistry
Council on Dental Practice
*All Medicaid providers of New York
State may have received the above memorandum. We thank New York State
Dental Association, all IDA members and the NYS legislators who opposed
this proposal and who fought hard to defeat it so underserved population
of the New York state continues to get the needed dental services they
deserve.
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Indian Dental Student Kiran
Gehani of NYU Dental School raises money for ADA Foundation:
Indian dental students raise money for access through ADA
Foundation
By Karen Fox
New York
— With surplus monies on hand from fundraising activities, the
150-member Indian Student Dental Association at New York University's
College of Dentistry sought advice on how to spend it, and they knew
just where to go for guidance.
"I kind of back off; I don't like to
tell them what to do," said Dr. Chad Gehani, an NYU faculty member and
advisor for the ISDA.
But why not donate the funds to the ADA
Foundation?
"These are your future patients," Dr.
Gehani told the students. "Why not use it for Give Kids A Smile, or
something that is constructive to the people you'll serve?"
The ISDA presented a $2,000 donation
March 26 to the ADA Foundation during the Annual Conference on
Membership Recruitment & Retention at ADA headquarters.
 |
|
Generosity: The ADA
Foundation receives a $2,000 donation from the NYU Indian Student
Dental Association March 26. Pictured from left are Barkley Payne,
senior director, ADA Foundation; Dr. Chad Gehani, ISDA advisor and
NYU faculty member; Dr. Sekiguchi, ADA president; Kiren Gehani, the
ISDA-NYU president; and Dr. James Bramson, ADA executive director.
|
At first, the ISDA had collected $1,200
— mostly from member dues and charity events — but thought it too paltry
a sum for the ADA Foundation. To seal the deal, Dr. Gehani offered to
make it an even $2,000 by making up the difference out of his own
pocket.
ADA Executive Director James Bramson
said the donation "shows the commitment of students to help make the
profession better."
"When I found out that this was in the
works, I wanted to be sure that we had a forum to say thanks and show
the important contributions that students from all schools can make,"
said Dr. Bramson. "Dr. Gehani has been a wonderful ambassador for the
ADA in the Indian community and throughout the profession. My hat's off
to him for helping us."
The ISDA-NYU chapter's president, Kiren
Gehani, was on hand to give the check to ADA President Eugene Sekiguchi.
"The ADA Foundation works to get all
Americans dental care. The ISDA is very enthusiastic about raising
money, and very proud to give back to the community," said Ms. Gehani,
who is also Dr. Gehani's daughter.
The Gehanis are a true American success
story. Dr. Chad Gehani attended dental school in India and emigrated to
the United States in 1975 for training in endodontics at NYU.
"I had never been to the dentist before
going to dental school," said Dr. Gehani, who had an early interest in
medicine. "The public dental school was more affordable because I came
from a poor family. Once in school, I found that I loved dentistry."
He now practices with his wife Rekha, an
orthodontist, in Jackson Heights, N.Y. Two of their three children are
in dental school: Kiren, in her third year at NYU, and Daniel, a
second-year student at State University of New York at Stony Brook
School of Dental Medicine. The Gehanis' youngest son, Neal, is in
medical school at Albany Medical College.
Now the executive director of the Indian
Dental Association, Dr. Gehani has had an active role as a volunteer in
organized dentistry. Among his many posts, he is a New York State Dental
Association team leader for the Tripartite Grassroots Membership
Initiative and a former member of the ADA Council on Membership.
"When you're new to the country, you see
things differently, not because you want to see things differently, it's
just a lack of education," he said. "I try to educate Indian dentists
that working together with the American Dental Association makes a lot
of sense. The ADA is here to further the advancement of the science of
dentistry as well as for the protection of the American public. After
all, we are all Americans."
Dr. Gehani's role as mentor is one that
ADA leaders would like to see duplicated.
"Mentors are really important for people
— everybody needs somebody to talk to, bounce ideas off and test new
thinking," noted Dr. Bramson. "When you're young or just starting out,
it's nice to know that you have a person to go where you are safe."
*With permission from American
Dental Association
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Links to Most Important
News:
President's Message:
Dear Friends,
We had tremendous success with our
first four seminars of this year. I'm very happy and proud of our
association as youhave shown your commitment and support by coming to
the seminars in large numbers. We are planning to bring more
interesting and educational seminars and we need all of you to give
your input in the form of a "Program evaluation form" and "need
assessment form" at the end of each seminar, so we can plan the future
topics based on your needs.
Congratulations to Dr. Chad Gehani and
Dr. Amrish Parikh, who were recognized at the membership conference
held at the American Dental Association headquarters in Chicago. Like
Dr. Gehani said; "membership is the lifeline of our organization's
strength, and we have increased our efforts by reaching to members at
a local level", so let us all ptich in this effort to reach out ot our
Dentist friends for recruitment and retention initiative.
I'm also very proud of our youngsters,
especially Ms. Kiren Gehani (ISDA President) she is a student at N.Y.U.
College of Dentistry, donating $2,000 from a fund raiser to ADA
foundation, getting State and National recognition.
FDI is holding the 2004 World Dental
Congress in New Delhi, India from September 10 through 13. It would be
a great opportunity to show our support as well as visit our mother
land.
Our leaders, NYSDA leaders and leaders
from various other ethnic organizations met with Assemblyman Sheldon
Silver, individual legislators and bembers of Black and Hispanic
caucus to make the case for maintaining Medicaid Funding for Adult
Medicaid in private offices. They have given us a positive response.
Enjoy the Summer of 2004, warm
temperatures ahead and our annual picnic and sports in July and
August.
Thank you all and God Bless You
Daljeet S. Sidhu, D.D.S.
President, IDA (USA)
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Annual Picnic:
Our Annual Picnic for 2004 was held on
Sunday, July 18 and was fun-filled with relaxation. The picnic was
well attended by members and their families at the Canitague Park in
Hicksville, Long Island.
Newest Members:
- Dr. Bankim Parikh
1991 Graduate of New York University
- Dr. Sachar
1977 Graduate
- Dr. Darshini Shah
2001 Graduate of New York University
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