PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL ASSOCIATION
Government Relations
Student Newsletter
PDA wants to keep you informed of legislative and regulatory issues even BEFORE you become a licensed dentist!
Why Belong to Organized Dentistry?
What exactly is organized dentistry and why should you belong to it? Organized dentistry is the combined efforts of individuals who work together to positively contribute to the dental profession. Through these organized systems, the profession is advanced and the public is better served.
PDA, a component society of the American Dental Association, is the premier dental organization at the forefront of legislative issues aimed at improving the practice environment in Pennsylvania for both dentists and patients.
By becoming a member of organized dentistry, you are supporting and working to protect your profession through advocacy efforts that not only strengthen the profession and improve the overall practice environment, but result in increased oral health care for the public.
PDA Advocacy Issues for 2015-2016
This legislation session, which began in January 2015, allows PDA two years to advocate on members’ behalf for important insurance reform, scope of practice and access to care issues. For the 2015-2016 legislative session, PDA is focused on the following advocacy issues:
Health Practitioner Student Loan Forgiveness
Legislation would increase the amount of funding available to dentists who enroll in the state’s Primary Healthcare Practitioner Loan Repayment Program in exchange for practicing in one of the designated health professional shortage areas across the state.
Legislation would increase the loan repayment amount from $100,000 to up to $200,000 for a full-time, two-year commitment. There are currently 85 designated dental health professional shortage areas in the state.
Assignment of Benefits
House Bill 973 and Senate Bill 843 would require insurance companies to assign benefits to treating dentists, even if they are not a participating provider with a patient’s insurance plan. This legislation would eliminate financial and administrative burdens for both patients and dentists. Some patients cannot choose their dentists because an insurer will not directly assign benefits to a non-participating provider and the patients are unable to pay for services in advance. Dentists who do not require advanced payment may never be paid for services rendered.
Retroactive Review
Senate Bill 554 and House Bill 1178 would limit the timeframe for which insurance companies can retroactively review and deny a previously paid claim. The legislation does not include cases of fraud, coding errors and duplicate claims where additional management and review may be required.
Increased Medical Assistance Funding
In 2011, cuts were made to Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance program, severely limiting the essential adult dental benefit. Since then, PDA has been advocating for increased funding to fully restore the adult dental benefit. Low-income adults suffer a disproportionate share of dental disease and are approximately 50 percent less likely to have seen a dentist in the past year when compared to adults who earn higher incomes.
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