Cindy Hartwell, dental benefits analyst at CDA Practice Support, reviews how a dental practice can bill properly by registering all treating dentists in the practice with the dental plan or plans.

Dr. Tippett-Whyte discusses the latest developments with Delta Dental's planned fee cuts and provides insight on CDA’s ongoing advocacy efforts to ensure Delta Dental honors its obligation to providers.

CDA Practice Support answers a member's question about whether a noncontracted dental benefits plan has a legal right to the contracted fee discount of another plan that the dentist does have a contract with. 

Delta Dental of California has announced a delay in implementing fee structure changes for endodontists, periodontists and oral surgeons. Due to uncertainty caused by COVID-19, Delta said it plans to delay the implementation date of Jan. 1, 2021, to July 1, 2021.

It is important that dentists and their teams know and understand their rights when appealing a claim denial and how the law can protect you and your patient. To minimize the frustration of dealing with a claim denial, it is important to understand how a lot of claims are processed today.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last Wednesday issued a notice to California health insurance and specialized health insurance companies, including 55 dental benefits companies, requesting that they “provide their policyholders with a partial premium refund no later than December 31, 2020.

The American Dental Association publishes updates to the Current Dental Terminology (CDT) code set on an annual basis. The codes contain descriptive terms developed and updated by the ADA for reporting dental services and procedures to dental benefit plans. 

CDA Practice Support is receiving calls from dentists and their staff concerning claim denials for scaling and root planing services by dental benefit plans. In this article, I review the criteria utilized by dental plans when reviewing claims for scaling and root planing and why some of the plan denials are correct based on the American Dental Association’s definition of scaling and root planing. 

Patients with some form of dental coverage or benefit to offset their out-of-pocket cost are more likely to accept a treatment plan. Offering an in-house discount plan can assist with attracting new patients and help retain existing patients, particularly those patients without any form of dental coverage.