Leadership Corner: Dr. Tippett-Whyte addresses Delta Dental’s postponed fee cuts, highlights CDA’s advocacy initiatives

April 22, 2021
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Quick Summary:
Delta Dental has postponed its scheduled fee cuts that would have affected more than 2,000 specialists. Watch Dr. Tippett-Whyte discuss CDA's ongoing advocacy initiatives to support providers.

Below is a transcript of her remarks: 

Hello, I’m Dr. Judee Tippett-Whyte, president of the California Dental Association. In this week’s Leadership Corner, we’re discussing Delta Dental of California’s recent announcement to postpone its scheduled fee reductions and CDA’s ongoing advocacy efforts to support its members and ensure Delta Dental honors its contractual obligations to providers.

Delta Dental of California announced in February of 2020 that it would reduce the maximum allowable fees for most procedures performed by endodontists, periodontists, and oral surgeons. The reductions were initially scheduled to take effect in July 2020 but were postponed until July of this year due to the pandemic.

CDA immediately went into action and has been fiercely advocating for Delta Dental to reevaluate the proposed fee reductions that would have affected more than 2,000 specialists in California.

Last month, CDA sent Delta Dental a legal analysis to support its claim that the reductions were based on invalid and insufficient data that would violate Delta Dental’s duties under its contracts with providers. Less than two weeks later, Delta Dental announced its decision to postpone the reductions indefinitely.

CDA will continue to monitor this situation and advocate for Delta Dental to make decisions that are lawful, fair, and reasonable, just as we did with our prior litigation against Delta that halted rate reductions for over seven years, amounting to savings to California dentists of close to a billion dollars.

We will also continue to provide resources to help all established and new dentists with dental benefit matters. And as a reminder, we are pursuing multiple pieces of legislation this year to obtain more support from dental plans for their dentists both in the near term and in future public health emergencies.

We understand dental benefit plans can be a source of frustration for us providers. Be sure to reach out to the practice support center to assist you with your concerns and help you build a bridge to knowledgeable and successful benefits plan management.

I look forward to bringing you additional updates throughout the year. Meanwhile, stay healthy, stay safe, be well and look for your opportunity to build a bridge.

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