DENTIST to DENTIST

RELATIONSHIP. MENTORSHIP. COMMUNICATION. “Roads? Where

There’s a lot going on within the Texas Dental Association, and although the destination – true member value for the everyday dentist —is very familiar territory, the road traveled is proving to be much more interesting. We are expanding our member services by advocating for a very robust legislative agenda which includes insurance reform, student loan repayment programs, and increases in Medicaid reimbursements, expanding our reach with continuing education, putting money back into our member’s hands with the Employee Retention Credit, and providing support with mental health toolkits and mutual aid guides.

Can we do more? Of course. But strength in numbers matter and we can’t do more without your membership. So, join us on this journey by visiting: https://www.tda.org/ member-center/join-renew — or scan the QR code.

Now, for an update of what’s going on in the Association: Council on the Annual Meeting and Continuing Education Programs

• May 4-6, 2023, The TDA Meeting—Registration is now open for this year’s TDA Meeting in San Antonio with the “Early Bird” deadline (free registration for TDA members and their teams) on March 31 quickly approaching. The council has worked long and hard to put together a program that features nationally recognized speakers along with activities and events to make your visit fun and memorable. Did I mention it was free to members?

• July 21, 2023, Regional Meeting—Held in Lubbock this year with Digital Dentistry as its topic, the intent of this meeting is to bring continuing education to many different components in a region where traveling to larger meetings may be difficult. To accomplish this goal, outreach beyond Lubbock is important and will hopefully include Amarillo, Abilene, and other neighboring parts of Texas.

• November 3-5, 2023, Dentist Symposium at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa—This program will focus on both education and building more community fellowship within our association by featuring high level continuing education in the morning and networking opportunities through various social activities in the afternoon.

From education to advocacy—with the legislative session in full gear, your Association completed a very successful Legislative Day with over 130 members and students meeting with key legislators and their staffs to advance our legislative agenda.

The Council on Legislative, Regulatory and Governmental Affairs

• Insurance Reform—HB 1527 was filed by Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) dealing with insurance reform by setting time limits for insurance companies to request refunds (retroactive denials), preventing the leasing of dentist networks from one company to another without the dentist’s knowledge (network leasing), and inhibiting insurance companies from precluding a dentist from collecting from a patient for a non-covered service.

• Clear Aligners—SB 384 was filed by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) and mandates a comprehensive exam by a dentist prior to the sale of any clear aligners. Although this would seem obvious, such is not currently the case, and this bill would be the first of its kind in the country to mandate an exam.

• Increases in Medicaid Dental Reimbursements—the last increase occurred as the result of a lawsuit in 2007 and many dentists are slowly leaving Medicaid as it has become more expensive to provide care. Increasing reimbursement (making it whole to 2007 levels) will attract more providers and help address the needs of over 4 million children who have qualified for Medicaid.

Compliance and Regulatory Matters

Lastly, I would like to give an additional plug for a new resource aptly named “Ask Diane”. As the senior policy manager for the Texas Dental Association, Diane has filed away more rules and regulations than we will ever know. Literally. So, if you have a question about staying in compliance, following regulations of the State Board or simply a complicated insurance question, visit https://www.tda.org/askdiane/questionsubmission and submit your question. Your question will be shared on other platforms and media to hopefully help others unless the question is highly specific to you as a member, and then you will receive a personalized email from Diane.

As our membership grows, so does our influence; let’s see where these roads, or no roads, take us!