Newsletter

WSAPD Members,

The end of April also brought an end to our state’s long legislative session, one of which included many discussions on bills that affect our patients and our members. While some legislation did not make it past committee this year, I would like to highlight a few key takeaways:

WSDA introduced a dental benefits bill that passed through both chambers of the legislature and was signed into law by our governer last week. This signature piece of legislation prohibits same day denials, restricts insurance companies from requiring dental offices to accept virtual credit cards, and requires the start of a mediation process with stakeholders to look at a minimum dental loss ratio and creating non-network reimbursement fairness. The mediation process will be done by the impartial William D. Ruckleshaus Center, and we look forward to their results and believe it will help further our case for dental benefit reforms.
To help our states projected budget deficit, one proposal was an increase to the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax that would have increased taxes for independent health care providers, including dentists, with gross income greater that $1 million from 1.75% to 2.1%. Advocacy efforts by WSDA and our membership amended the bill to only affect providers with a gross income greater or equal to $5 million, resulting in no B&O increases for most dentists.
This year a bill was introduced to expand dental assistant duties to include removing plaque, calculus and stains with scalers or ultrasonic scaling devices on patients who are periodontally healthy or with localized mild gingivitis, a model that is already practiced in Indian Health Services and in the military. While the bill did not make it out of committee this year (no scope of practice bills were sent out of committee) we are happy to report that this bill will be examined by the center for health workforce studies in the coming year. I think it is also important to note that Arizona passed a similar law for their state, which will be helpful as we look to reintroduce this for next year’s legislative session.
On a more somber note, despite our campaign and advocacy efforts both pediatric and adult Medicaid rates saw a reduction in the final budget that was passed by the legislature. The reduction is realized by removing 50% of the increases provided by the 2022 budget, excluding ABCD codes. While the rate reduction for pediatric services ended up being less than initially proposed, we understand that this is still devastating for providers who treat our most vulnerable population.

WSAPD will continue to advocate for our patients and our membership! While we do not have a lobbyist of our own, we are constantly working with WSDA to make sure pediatric dental priorities are discussed and represented through the board, legislative, and Medicaid task forces. We do not know yet if Medicaid cuts will happen at the federal level and what their effect will be on Washington State pediatric dentistry, but we will keep you informed as more information becomes available.

- Bri Butler, WSAPD Public Policy Advocate

WSAPD Members,

WSDA introduced a dental benefits bill that passed through both chambers of the legislature and was signed into law by our governer last week. This signature piece of legislation prohibits same day denials, restricts insurance companies from requiring dental offices to accept virtual credit cards, and requires the start of a mediation process with stakeholders to look at a minimum dental loss ratio and creating non-network reimbursement fairness. The mediation process will be done by the impartial William D. Ruckleshaus Center, and we look forward to their results and believe it will help further our case for dental benefit reforms.
To help our states projected budget deficit, one proposal was an increase to the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax that would have increased taxes for independent health care providers, including dentists, with gross income greater that $1 million from 1.75% to 2.1%. Advocacy efforts by WSDA and our membership amended the bill to only affect providers with a gross income greater or equal to $5 million, resulting in no B&O increases for most dentists.
This year a bill was introduced to expand dental assistant duties to include removing plaque, calculus and stains with scalers or ultrasonic scaling devices on patients who are periodontally healthy or with localized mild gingivitis, a model that is already practiced in Indian Health Services and in the military. While the bill did not make it out of committee this year (no scope of practice bills were sent out of committee) we are happy to report that this bill will be examined by the center for health workforce studies in the coming year. I think it is also important to note that Arizona passed a similar law for their state, which will be helpful as we look to reintroduce this for next year’s legislative session.
On a more somber note, despite our campaign and advocacy efforts both pediatric and adult Medicaid rates saw a reduction in the final budget that was passed by the legislature. The reduction is realized by removing 50% of the increases provided by the 2022 budget, excluding ABCD codes. While the rate reduction for pediatric services ended up being less than initially proposed, we understand that this is still devastating for providers who treat our most vulnerable population.

- Bri Butler, WSAPD Public Policy Advocate