CDA has kicked off its 2026 legislative advocacy with two sponsored bills related to dental plan reform, which remains a top concern for CDA members and dentists across California.
Assembly Bill 1629 addresses the growing inadequacy of dental plan networks to meet enrollees’ needs, which frequently leaves patients scrambling to find oral health care. The bill also would require all dental plans to honor patients’ assignment of benefits requests.
The second CDA-sponsored bill would require all dental plans to have an online provider portal that dentists can use whether they are in or out of a plan’s network. The goal of this legislation is to help dental offices access accurate benefit estimates to help patients make informed decisions.
“After our success with last year’s dental plan reform bill that protects dentists from predatory virtual credit card practices, we said we could be proud of our collective efforts but that we have more to do,” said CDA President Robert Hanlon, DMD. “We mean it. We’re back this legislative session with two bills that demand more accountability and transparency from dental plans — two bills that are good for California dentists and their patients.”
These bills also continue the work of the Fix Our Dental Insurance campaign, which shines a light on the many ways dental plans fail to provide meaningful coverage.
‘Assignment of benefits’ loopholes put unnecessary cost burden on patients
Dental patients across California continue to face challenges finding a dentist who is included in their dental plan’s network. Dental plans are held to specific network adequacy standards to ensure they have enough general and specialist dentists to provide care. However, nearly half of Californians with commercial dental coverage are in plans governed by federal law, and those plans are not included in the current network adequacy assessments conducted by the Department of Managed Health Care and Department of Insurance. As a result, the state has an incomplete picture when assessing dental provider network adequacy.
Additionally, many patients who see an out-of-network dentist must pay 100% of the treatment costs upfront and wait to be reimbursed even when the patient requests the plan by their dentist directly. This arrangement puts an unnecessary cost burden on patients and further restricts how their already limited dental benefits can be used.
As a result of both plan deficiencies, patients are traveling farther, waiting longer, or altogether skipping their basic, necessary dental care.
Bill requires network reporting for all plans sold, closes loopholes in AOB
CDA-sponsored AB 1629, authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), addresses both problems by:
- Requiring dental insurance companies to report provider network information to the state for all dental plans they sell.
- Requiring dental plans to comply with a patient’s AOB requests so that patients can receive care from an out-of-network dentist and have the dental plan send payment directly to the dental office.
“Here again, we see that our current ‘dental insurance’ doesn’t work like real insurance,” Dr. Hanlon said. “AB 1629 would take a big step toward changing that by requiring dental benefit plans to simply honor AOB requests made by patients. The bill would fix a significant barrier to dental care and improve the value of dental coverage.”
AB 1629 is a reintroduced version of last year’s AB 371, with changes this year to address projected implementation costs to the state that kept AB 371 from advancing.
Pretreatment Estimates: No current standard for dental plans
Dentists and their offices spend significant time obtaining insurance benefit breakdowns that estimate for the patient what services will be covered and how much a plan will pay. However, the information the plan provides, whether through a call center representative or online portal, if the plan has one, often differs from the final coverage and explanation of benefits posttreatment.
The details needed for an accurate estimate of benefit breakdown, such as coverage exceptions or applicable annual maximums and limitations, are often missing in that initial breakdown. The end discrepancy can leave the patient responsible for hundreds or thousands of dollars. The patient might also lose trust in the dental office for providing the plan’s initial inaccurate treatment estimate.
Bill requires dental plans to provide benefit information through online portal
CDA-sponsored AB 2029, by Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins (D-San Diego), provides a solution. The bill would require dental plans to make standardized information available via an online portal, whether the dentist is in network or out of network. With the portal, the dental team could obtain accurate benefit estimates, request and receive prior authorizations and track claims status.
The provider portal would provide accurate information about:
- Applicable deductible
- Coverage eligibility
- Detailed frequency limitations, waiting periods or other exemptions
- Alternate benefits or downcoding that apply
- Accurate cost breakdown of what the plan will cover
- Patient copayment for treatment rendered
- Expiration of the estimate
- Claim status
If this bill passes, requiring dental plan portals to provide the newly established minimum standard benefit information, dental offices could log in and quickly obtain an accurate estimate of benefit coverage by procedure code.
“Dentists and patients are looking for more transparency from dental plans on coverage and out-of-pocket costs,” Hanlon said. “It’s frustrating enough that dental insurance covers only a portion of patients’ needs; we must get rid of surprise loopholes that harm patients and protect plans. CDA-sponsored AB 2029, if signed into law, will accomplish that by allowing dentists to easily and quickly obtain an anticipated paid benefit and a more accurate estimate of the patient’s copayment — especially important for patients undergoing complex dental treatment.”
CDA will keep members updated on the progress of both bills as they move through the Legislature. Read more on CDA’s ongoing dental plan reform efforts. Learn about all current CDA-sponsored bills and other major issues and priorities for CDA in 2026.