Maximizing Dental Benefits for Your Patients

LEGISLATIVE LOOP

Legislative Overview & Political Update

Let's Do This! Maximizing Dental Benefits for Your Patients

By: Lynn Means, ODA Executive Director

Hopefully you’ve heard the great news out of Massachusetts where they recently passed a law that established a *medical loss ratio for dental plans that will: • Require dental plans to spend at least 83% of premium dollars on patient care rather than on administrative costs, marketing, and executive compensation. • Require dental plans that do not meet the 83% minimum to refund the difference to covered individuals and groups. • Require dental insurance companies to disclose administrative costs and other financial information annually. • Specifically prevent dental insurance premium increases above the consumer price index without approval by the state.

• Authorize the Massachusetts Division of Insurance to approve or disapprove dental plan rates and block premium increases deemed to be excessive or unreasonable.

WE ARE RUNNING A SIMILAR BILL IN 2023 …… WHY?

• Requiring a higher portion of premium dollars to be spent on patient care can help reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients, making dental care more affordable and encouraging people who wouldn’t normally go to the dentist to get dental care. • It will increase transparency and accountability in dental insurance. Greater transparency will ensure patients get the most value for premiums paid. • Similar consumer protections are already in place for medical health insurance plans. Dental insurance plans should not be excluded. 2. Plan to attend the ODA / DENPAC Legislative Reception

Tuesday, February 21 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM

ODA Building 317 NE 13th Street

OKC, OK 73104

REGISTER AT OKDA.ORG/Advocacy 3. Serve as an ODA Action Team Leader

As an ODA Action Team Leader (ATL), you are asked to develop a personal relationship with your state representative and/or senator. Your own personal grassroots political activity should be as much a part of dentistry today as patient care, because whether we win or lose depends LARGELY on our effective grassroots political participation — YOUR active participation.

Your input to legislators provides ODA’s lobbyists with the political support they need to be persuasive. With so many legislators and term limits, the ODA continuously has a lot of people to get to know. If you have an existing

relationship with a state representative or senator (e.g. participate in a fundraiser, attend church together,

Rotary, kids in the same school or knew each other in college or high school), please consider serving as his/ her ODA Action Team Leader!

Contact Lynn Means, lmeans@okda.org to volunteer or for more information!

4. Join DENPAC when paying your 2023 dues! *A medical loss ratio is the portion of premium revenue that a health care insurance company spends on actual patient care for its customers.

HOW CAN YOU HELP GET THIS LAW PASSED IN OKLAHOMA?

1. If you didn't attened one of our recent (virtual) ODA

Member Town Halls, please take time to watch the recording at okda.org/legislative-session.

STAY UP TO DATE

Visit okda.org/legislative-session to download materials and stay up to date on the latest information. We also encourage you to join the conversation in our members only Facebook group, facebook.com/groups/okdentaltalk.