NMDA Journal Winter 2019-20

nmdental.org 15 In Congress, HR 3762 called the DOC Ac- cess Act, introduced by Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, was reintroduced in the US House of Representatives on July 15, 2019. This would prevent “dental insurance compa- nies from interfering in the doctor-patient relationship by dictating prices for services they don’t even cover,” according to ADA immediate past-president, Dr. Jeff Cole. Sadly, GovTrack.us states that this act only has a 2% chance of becoming a law. Some state legislatures have adopted legisla- tion that restricts dental benefits company’s ability to disallow claims. Some of these laws address contracting issues rather than plan administration to include plans that would otherwise be excluded by ERISA, but this will likely face legal challenges that have not yet been tested.