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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 30, 2023 11:13 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Greg Scott |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Virtual credit card legislation |
| Some dental insurers have adopted a policy that dentists must accept claims payment using a credit or debit card equivalent, rather than a paper check or direct deposit. The transaction usually involves the insurer providing a series of numbers that the dentist enters on a website or credit card terminal to complete the claims payment. Dental practices must absorb the transaction fees, sometimes as high as five percent, or pass the additional cost on to patients. Adding insult to injury, insurers sometimes get a percentage of the transaction fee. Many dental offices are not fully equipped to handle end-to-end electronic claims processing, in particular bulk claim payments. They may be forced to upgrade their payment system simply to be paid for services they provide to patients covered under an insurer’s plan. This unfairly restricts a dental office’s business practices and is particularly onerous for dentists who are small business owners. Adding additional costs in the form of transactional fees will not lower the cost of dental care for dental practices or for patients. My legislation does not prohibit insurers from using virtual credit card payments. It simply requires insurers to provide other payment options and gives dentists the ability to opt into the payment option that works best for their dental office or facility. Nineteen other states have already passed legislation prohibiting dental insurers from requiring virtual credit card payments only, including Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. |
Introduced as HB1664