As published in the Malden Observer:

 

Dentists go to Beacon Hill to meet with legislators

By David M. Leader
Tuesday, June 3, 2003

Sitting in

Dentists from all over Massachusetts converged on the State House on Wednesday, May 21, for the Massachusetts Dental Society's first annual Beacon Hill Day. Our goal was to lobby for legislation that would improve dental care and insurance coverage for the public, improve the availability of quality staff for dental offices, and allow dentists and consumers the right to discuss changes in insurance contracts before such changes are made.

When plans for this day were made public, I jumped at the opportunity. Having practiced .in Malden for 14 years, been the dental advisor to Tri-CAP Headstart for most of that time, and the chairman of the Health Advisory Committee of the Lynnfield Schools I wanted to get to know my legislators better, and give voice to issues that are important to all of the members of our community.

House Speaker Thomas Finneran welcomed the dental society to the State House. He told us that it is not an imposition for our legislators to hear our concerns. Then we broke up into small groups to meet with our respective senators and representatives.

My small group included Dr. Ed Doherty, a member of the East Middlesex Dental Society's Peer Review Committee. We met with Rep. Bradley Jones, the staff of Rep. Christopher Fallon and the staff of Sen. Richard Tisei. Packets of information were presented to each office; business cards were exchanged. Jones invited us into his inner office where we sat comfortably and spoke at length about each issue. A member of Tisei's staff and a member of Fallon's staff listened carefully to all of our comments.

The Massachusetts Dental Society supported Senate bill 833 "An Act Relative to the Dental Treatment of Children." If enacted, this bill would require medical insurance companies to cover the anesthesia costs for children under the age of 5 and severely disabled individuals who require hospitalization for dental treatment.

House bill 2085 "An Act Relative to Dental Provider Contracts" would require state insurance companies to schedule a public hearing when a dental insurance company renews, terminates, amends or modifies its dental provider contracts or reimbursement methodology. This bill could help prevent many of the insurance problems that come up in dental offices daily. Some of these problems have included changes in how insurance pays for certain procedures and even the cancellation by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts of all of the contracts of their dental providers without a contract in place that had been reviewed and recommended by the Massachusetts Dental Society.

There are two other bills on the agenda of the Massachusetts Dental Society. House Bill 1699 "An Act Relative to Small Group Insurance" which would allow professional and trade associations and chambers of commerce to pool their members and members' employees for the purpose of acquiring medical insurance. This would allow very small businesses to be part of a large group. House Bill 2054 "An Act Relative to the Dental Auxiliary Shortage in the Commonwealth" would create a commission to investigate reasons for the dental auxiliary shortage and offer recommendations to the Legislature. The shortage of trained dental staff is a direct cause of increased fees.

The Massachusetts Dental Society hopes that you will join us in asking the State House to pass these bills into law. They will help us to continue to maintain the excellent standard of dental care that we all expect and enjoy.

David M. Leader is a Malden dentist.