Senate Human Services committee restores consumer protection language to dental bill, adopts amendment

The Senate Human Services Committee on an undisclosed date adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 2377 that restores language to prevent preferred provider arrangements from blocking insured people from obtaining or privately paying for covered dental services after annual, lifetime or frequency limits are met, and then passed the bill as amended.

Committee members said the change responds to recurring reports that patients are prevented from paying a provider directly for services the insurer refuses because the patient has exhausted plan frequency or lifetime limits. Rebecca Fricke, executive director of PERS, and dental and insurance stakeholders described the amendment and how it differs from earlier language under consideration.

The amendment adopted by the committee reads in part: “a preferred provider arrangement may not restrict a covered person from receiving or paying for covered services as described in this section for additional dental care services the covered…