Committee advances bill requiring notice, choice for dental offices when insurers use virtual credit cards

House Industry, Business and Labor Committee members advanced House Bill 1471 after hearing testimony from the bill sponsor, insurers and dental representatives who said some carriers are mandating virtual-credit-card reimbursement that imposes processing fees on dental practices.

Representative Nels Christiansen, sponsor of HB1471, told the committee the language was developed with the North Dakota Dental Association and the Insurance Department to give dental offices “transparency and freedom of choice.” He said the bill “requires that insurance carriers notify dental offices if they plan to use virtual credit cards for their method of payment and also to notify dental offices of all the processing fees that are included in this method of payment type.”

The bill would not ban use of virtual credit cards, Christiansen said. Instead it would require carriers to disclose fees and offer a non–fee-bearing alternative — for example paper check or…