AGD Continues NCOIL Advocacy for Opt-In Network Leasing Model
Dr. Darren Greenwell, Chair of the AGD Legislative and Governmental Affairs Council and Jay Fisher, JD, Manager, Government Relations attended the Spring NCOIL Meeting in Louisville, KY from April 16th to the 18th.
This year, for the first time, AGD is a member of the NCOIL Corporate and Institutional Partners (CIP) group.
The highlight of the meeting was the general session on Network Leasing in Health Care-What Policymakers Need to Know. The speakers were Dr. Mark Vitale of the ADA, Emily Carroll of the AMA and Kathy Larkin of DenteMax. Ms. Carroll spoke about the improvements in the medical practice environment after NCOIL passed model legislation on silent PPOs. The legislators, based on their questions and comments, seem to understand the negative effects of network leasing on the dental profession.
AGD will be sending letters to the attendees emphasizing the need for the NCOIL model bill to require a dentist to opt-in to a network leasing arrangement. Colorado just became the second state to enact an opt-in leasing law. This education campaign will be a year-long process.
Impact on General Dentistry: NCOIL model laws are very influential in state capitals. If we can successfully amend the NCOIL dental insurance model law to have the network leasing provision switched from an opt-out to an opt-in it greatly increases the likelihood of more states enacting an opt-in provision in many states. This will improve the practice environment of general dentists in those states.