Bill > HB1091

This bill prohibits certain health insurers and dental plan organizations from preventing patients from assigning their insurance benefits to dentists or refusing to pay dentists directly when they are not part of the patient's preferred network of providers, known as nonpreferred providers. It requires nonpreferred dentists seeking to receive payments directly from insurers or dental plans to inform patients beforehand about their nonpreferred status, potential charges for non-covered services or the remaining balance for covered services, an estimate of costs, payment terms, and any applicable interest. The bill also mandates that these dentists provide a disclosure form to document the assignment of benefits, and insurers or dental plans must provide specific claim information to patients when they are responsible for paying a nonpreferred provider directly. The term "provider" in this context refers to anyone licensed to provide healthcare services, including physicians and dentists, and "similarly licensed provider" is defined to include dentists who perform the same or similar dental services. This legislation aims to ensure greater transparency and facilitate direct payment to dentists for services rendered.