Bytes

The State All Payer Claims Databases (APCD) Advisory Committee Report has been released by the State All Payer Claims Databases Advisory Committee (SAPCDAC). The SAPCDAC was formed by the “No Surprises Act” (from 2020 U.S. HR 133) and charged with advising the Secretary of Labor regarding the standardized reporting format for the voluntary reporting by group health plans to APCDs.

On Dec. 21, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) published the new Surgeon General’s Report on oral health. The Table of Contents is on page 33 with information about the six sections and refers to dental benefits as dental insurance throughout the report. (More than 2000 mentions).

NADP delegates elected the following three members to serve three-year terms on the Board of Directors

NADP continues to serve as the voice of the dental benefits industry to key stakeholders and the media

The majority of states have adjourned their legislative sessions for the year and NADP has prepared a summary on key bills from 2021. The Government Relations Workgroup (GRW) met twice monthly during the first five months of the year to analyze nearly 180 bills, the most significant of which are mapped and described below. Not included in this wrap up are bills pending in Massachusetts’ year-round legislature, which pertain to issues such as loss ratio reporting and assignment of benefits.

Senate Democrats recently announced a $3.5 trillion outline to implement President Biden’s “human infrastructure” plan. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer emphasized that in addition to funding the programs the President has requested, the Senate will include funding for the addition of dental, vision and hearing benefits to the Medicare program.

The deadline for potential revisions to the American Dental Association’s 2023 Codes on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature (CDT) is quickly approaching. NADP is encouraging our members to take advantage of our voting seat on the ADA Code Maintenance Committee by filing proposals via the NADP Codes Sub-WorkGroup (SWG) by Aug. 27 so they can be considered for submission as industry consensus proposals.

Most NADP Surveys are still open for participation and additional responses will only make our industry reports better. If your company has not yet submitted a response to any of the open surveys, please do so as soon as possible. For a list of all the NADP surveys still open, please visit the NADP Surveys Page. If the survey is not listed as closed, we can still accept responses.

In a recent 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court held in California v. Texas that the plaintiffs seeking to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) did not have standing and dismissed the case. The court held that Texas and the businesses it interceded on behalf of in front of the court did not prove they would suffer injury from the law, leaving the ACA unchanged from its current form. See the full decision here.

The Office of the Surgeon General had been developing a Report on Oral Health, which will instead be released by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). The expected time of release is this fall.