We are reaching out regarding an exciting effort to support reforming the dental insurance system. Our aim is to find ways to determine when insurance carriers claim that their plans are exempt from state regulation because of the federal law known as ERISA. As you may be aware, many dental carriers administer dental benefits on behalf of employer groups (so-called “self-funded plans”), and they may be using this status as a reason to not abide by state law. We need evidence that this is occurring. To help us collect it, we are asking dentists like you to share any instances of an insurance carrier claiming the ERISA exemption that you have documented in writing.

If you have this type of documentation, please first de-identify by removing any patient information, and then forward it to Staci Rives, srives@tda.org. TDA will share the information with the ADA’s department of state government affairs for tracking.

Helping us collect this documentation over the next few weeks will help us spur state lawmakers and regulators to enforce laws already on the books, and that will benefit you and fellow dentists in our state and around the country.
 
Thank you for your consideration, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Linda G. Brady, CAE
TDA Executive Director