News

The 2021 state legislative session is in full swing in the majority of states

Network Leasing

While NADP and its industry partners successfully negotiated favorable changes to the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ Transparency Model in December 2020, NADP is actively monitoring state bills for attempts to include language deviating from the Model’s leasing language. Thus far, NADP has identified the following.

  • NADP has been in active conversations with the sponsor of North Dakota HB 1154 to ensure that this bill conforms with the Model.
  • NADP and the industry are also working with the South Dakota Dental Association to ensure that leasing legislation SB 1073 includes language that resolves dentist’s concerns about transparency while also preserving network leasing as a practice.  

New Jersey

NADP is continuing to advocate before the New Jersey legislature, which meets throughout the year, and which has carried over several concerning bills from 2020:

  • NJ  A4538 and its companion S3131 would require dental insurers to provide premium credits for insurers.
  • NJ A4996 requires insurance carriers offering dental benefit plans to provide certain level of coverage and reimbursement
  • NJ SB 2853 would remove contractual protections which dental plans negotiate on behalf of consumers and expose dental patients to unexpected balance billing charges. The bill was passed by the New Jersey Senate on Jan 28. NADP is actively engaged with the New Jersey legislature in an effort to prevent its companion bill A 4820 from moving further in the Assembly.

PPE Reimbursement

Several recently introduced bills that would require insurers to cover the cost of provider personal protective equipment.

  • California’s SB 242 would require reimbursement for PPE for both medical and dental plans “at a reasonable rate negotiated by the plan and provider.” NADP is working with the California Association of Dental Plans to address this bill.
  • Washington SB 5169, which specifically calls for PPE reimbursement of providers using a designated CPT code does not impact dental carriers; however, NADP is monitoring this bill to ensure that its scope is not expanded.  

COVID Vaccine

NADP is monitoring efforts in various states to permit dentists to deliver the COVID vaccine. None of the bills address the issue of reimbursement for vaccine administration: Indiana HB 1079Iowa HSB 71Missouri HB 628New Jersey AB 5212.

NADP is also monitoring surprise billing legislation for efforts to include dental carriers within the scope of applicability (Kentucky SB 19Deleware  HB 39)

Please direct questions about state legislation to Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs Teresa Cagnolatti.

 

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