The Minnesota Dental Association (MDA) is supporting new legislation that would update Minnesota Medical Assistance base reimbursement rates to 75% of the 2011 median dental fee schedule.
Senate File 302 and House File 408, authored by Sen. Roger Reinert (DFL-Duluth) and Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester), would update the reimbursement rate for the first time in nearly 15 years.
"The proposed legislation would bring dental fee reimbursement rates in line with current dental fee schedules," stated Michael Flynn, DDS, president of the MDA, in a press release. "The current rate of reimbursement for MA providers is based on the 1989 fee schedule, which is woefully inadequate for providers striving to meet the needs of Minnesota's public program patients."
The legislation is a step toward repairing the state's "broken system" as dental providers prepare for thousands of new MA patients entering the system under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the MDA noted.
