Who handles most of the insurance claims in the dental practice? Who gets frustrated when insurance companies don't handle things like they should? Dental office managers, who can now rejoice in the recent Delta Dental settlement.
In case you missed the news, dentists in California challenged Delta Dental for reducing its reimbursements for its Premier providers without proper notification and in violation of its own participating dentist agreement. It took three years, but the California Dental Association and Delta Dental reached a proposed settlement agreement.
The suit centered on Delta Dental's actions to amend the Participating Dentist Agreement of its Premier plan, which dentists claimed was a breach of contract. Additional irregularities were allegedly uncovered during the course of the litigation. (1)
As those who handle a majority of the insurance, office managers might feel helpless when it comes to insurance companies doing what insurance companies do: keeping offices and patients confused. This settlement proves that the "little guys" can win. Organized dentistry pulled together, persevered, and can now feel a sense of justice after years of what can feel like unfair insurance practices.
Dr. Chris Salierno, editor of Dental Economics, summarized the victory and shared his thoughts in this featured editorial article. You can read Take that, Delta Dental!
Apex360 also covered the news. You can read that article here.
Office managers, rejoice with your fellow dental professionals! Hopefully this verdict will open the doors for more good things to come and more future fair insurance practices.
REFERENCES
California Dental Association achieves favorable settlement with Delta Dental. American Dental Association website. http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/march/california-dental-association-achieves-favorable-settlement-with-delta-dental?nav=news. Published March 10, 2017. Accessed April 7, 2017.
Editor's note: This article was updated on April 7. It had incorrectly stated that the lawsuit brought by dentists was in response to fee reductions.
