HB 2979

Oregon is experiencing a critical shortage of dental assistants and hygienists, vital oral health care providers. Without enough auxiliary staff, dentists are forced to cut back their hours and the number of patients they serve, reducing access to care. This isn’t a new problem, but it has been greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the Oregon Employment Department identified dental assisting as one of the most challenging roles to fill among vacant health care jobs. Of all health care providers, dental offices lost the largest proportion of staff in the early months of the pandemic, according to the Oregon Health Authority’s 2021 Health Care Workforce Report. Data released in 2022 found that 9 percent of Oregon’s 5,480 dental assistant positions remain vacant.

The Oregon Dental Association is collaborating with education, government, and other partners to address this crisis. Together, we are pursuing short- and long-term solutions that will help to resolve urgent workforce needs, expand access to care for underserved Oregonians and improve diversity of the dental care workforce. We believe it is a critical time for the Oregon Legislature to invest in oral health across the state.

Community College Dental Assisting and Hygiene Programs: $5 million investment

Funds allocated to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission would be administered to the dental assisting and hygiene training programs at Community Colleges across the state to increase enrollment, support recruitment and retention of instructors and provide scholarships for students from diverse populations.

High School Health Professional Programs: $5 million investment

Funding provided to the Oregon Department of Education would support the expansion of K-12 health professional career and technical education in Oregon high schools, increasing the pipeline of future dental assistants and hygienists.

Workforce Development Incentives: $7 million investment

Additional funding allocated to the Oregon Health Authority would enable the expansion of Oregon’s Health Care Provider Incentive Programs to include all oral health professionals (dentists, hygienists, assistants, dental therapists, dental community health aides) working in priority communities, increasing access to care for tribal, rural, low-income, and other underserved populations while supporting recruitment and retention of critically needed dental care providers. Funds would be available for providers, FQHCs, and employers serving Medicaid patients.

Tribal Dental Professions Education: $1 million investment

Funds provided to a tribal entity for the creation of a dental professions education program to support the administration of programs for tribal youth to learn about and become interested in dental professions.

Dental Assisting Training Module Development: $2 million investment

Funds allocated to a workforce board for the creation of a chair side dental assisting training module to be made available to all providers across the state.

HB 3008

Oregon Dentists Support Insurance Transparency

Oregon dentists and their patients are navigating increasingly complex and opaque dental insurance practices that raise health care costs and harm access to care. When dental plans are not transparent, dentists are unable to quote accurate costs before they provide services, and patients may forego receiving the care they need or using the benefits they’re entitled to.

Oregonians need access to insurance information they can rely on.

This bill will improve access to care, oral health outcomes and public understanding of health care costs by requiring provider network transparency and claims reimbursement transparency.

Provider Network Transparency

Why it’s needed:

Dental plans routinely contract with dentists to join provider panels. When patients choose a provider within their network, their plan pays the provider a predetermined amount for covered procedures.

Insurance companies are increasingly leasing out or selling their panels to other health plans, often with lower reimbursement rates, and often without a provider’s knowledge or consent. Providers may be unaware until after they’ve provided services and are shorted reimbursement by a third party.

Network leasing increases business costs and prevents patients from knowing their out-of-pocket costs prior to receiving care. To address these unnecessary barriers, at least 20 states have approved legislation requiring dental plans to be transparent about the leasing of their dental networks

Solution:

This bill would prohibit dental insurers in Oregon from leasing provider networks without a provider’s consent and would require insurers to announce the third parties they lease to.

Claims Reimbursement Transparency

Why it’s needed:

Dental plans increasingly reimburse providers using electronic credit cards, even if dentists have not explicitly agreed to this payment method. Because the credit card companies charge fees for dentists to receive the payments they’re owed, this practice prevents dentists from receiving their full reimbursement rates and leads to higher business costs.

Insurers often do not notify dental providers when implementing this practice and provide little information about how dentists can opt out. As a result, over a dozen states have passed laws addressing this practice.

Solution:

This bill would require dental insurers in Oregon to allow providers to opt in to receiving payments for reimbursement via credit card, rather than having to opt out, and would require insurers to notify providers of any potential fees associated with payment processing.