Senate Human Services hears lengthy debate over House Bill 1481 on dental insurance "loss ratios"

Representative Jim Casper introduced House Bill 1481, which would set a minimum dental loss ratio for dental insurance plans and require rebate or credit when a plan fails to meet the threshold. The bill was the subject of extensive testimony from dentists, dental associations, brokers, insurers and regulators during the Senate Human Services Committee hearing.

The bill’s backers said the measure is intended to increase transparency and guarantee “value” for purchasers of dental coverage. William Sherwin, executive director of the North Dakota Dental Association, told the committee HB 1481 aims to ensure “83 or 75 percent of the patients’ dollars that are going into the premiums have to be spent on them,” and that the proposal includes a phase-in, an exemption for carriers with fewer than 1,000 lives, and an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027 so markets and the Insurance Department can prepare.

Representative Casper, a broker who sponsored the bill in the House, described the problem from brokers’ and patients’ perspectives: insurers do not routinely disclose plan- or group-level loss…