Government Relations
This month marks the end of the first year of a two-year legislative cycle and most are still scratching their heads, thinking: Why on earth did it take so long to pass the state budget? The budget stalemate, which lasted into November, largely derived from disagreements over mass transit funding and skilled games of chance, but its impact was felt on other legislation introduced this year. And by that, we mean, it’ s been a slow go on most other bills moving through the legislative process as House and Senate leaders focused on budget negotiations with Governor Josh Shapiro.
PDA continues to advocate for the issues most important to members: dental insurance reform measures like credentialing reforms, dental loss ratio reporting, and prior notification of network leasing. We’ re also actively monitoring the hundreds of other bills that were introduced to ascertain their potential impact on dentistry. With recent attention paid to access to health care in rural areas at the federal and state levels, PDA made sure dentistry was represented at a legislative hearing over the summer to address access to dental care in rural Pennsylvania, and that we maintained regular communication with the Department of Human Services regarding its Rural Health Transformation Plan.
Dr. Maria Tacelosky testified at a Senate committee hearing addressing access to dental care in rural Pennsylvania.
Mid-Session Review: Bills Impacting Dentistry
HB 544 and SB 888: Credentialing Reforms
• Requires practitioners and insurers to use the CAQH system.
• Requires timely notice to applicants when an application is incomplete.
• Limits the credentialing period to 45 days for complete applications.
• Streamlines the process for practitioners practicing in multiple locations.
• Introduced by Rep. Steve Mentzer and Sen. Dave Argall in the spring. PDA’ s staff and lobbyists met with Sen. Argall in October to prepare the talking points to counter any opposition to the bill prior to a committee vote.
SB 849: Community Water Fluoridation Ban
• Sen. Dawn Keefer introduced a bill modeled after Utah and Florida’ s legislation to ban community water fluoridation at the optimal level in all of the Commonwealth’ s public water supplies. Rep. Jason Ortitay introduced similar legislation in the House.
• PDA opposes these bills and is prepared to respond should either bill start moving. We’ ve communicated our opposition to leaders in both the House and Senate and, as of now, neither chamber has indicated an interest in working on a bill.
• We’ ve developed a network of dentists to help respond to media inquiries and questions from policymakers and remain
vigilant with those local water companies or municipalities that are reconsidering whether to fluoride their public water supply.
HB 1325: Dental Loss Ratio Reporting
• Rep. Kyle Mullins reintroduced legislation requiring dental insurers to report their dental loss ratios( DLR) to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department( PID).
• A law establishing a reporting requirement on an MLR for dentistry— the percentage of revenue from premiums spent on patient care— would enhance transparency for patients seeking oral health care and make dental insurers more accountable.
• PDA is involved in stakeholder discussions with dental insurers and the PID to reach a consensus that will move the bill out of the House Insurance Committee.
HB 1290: Licensing Board Advisory Opinions
• Allows licensees to make a written request that their respective licensing board render advisory opinions that clarify or interpret regulations relevant to the licensee.
• Boards would have 30 days to render an advisory opinion after receiving a written request.
• Advisory opinions would be binding on the licensing board solely with respect to the licensee to whom it is issued.
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2025 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 7