Sanborn bill to increase the value of dental insurance gets unanimous support in Senate

Sen. Sanborn has dedicated the bill in memory of the late Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, D.D.S.

AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, a bill from Sen. Heather Sanborn, D-Portland, received unanimous, bipartisan support in the Maine Senate. The bill, LD 1266, “An Act to Require Dental Plan Medical Loss Ratio Reporting and Review,” would help ensure dental insurance plans provide real value to Mainers. Sen. Sanborn has dedicated the bill in memory of the late Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, D.D.S.

“I began work on this legislation in large part due to Dr. Shenkin’s advocacy, and I’m proud to continue fighting for the issues he was so passionate about,” said Sen. Sanborn. “This bill would give everyone the ability to see just how much their dental plans actually spend toward improving care and patient outcomes, while also giving the Superintendent of Insurance the ability to require insurers who don’t provide good value to develop a plan to lower rates or improve service.”

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), health insurers are required to have an 80 percent medical loss ratio (MLR), meaning that they spend 80 cents out of every dollar on paying customers’ claims and items that improve the quality of care. The ACA did not require the same for dental insurers, however, leaving them free to spend premium dollars they take in as they see fit.

As amended, LD 1266 would require the Maine Bureau of Insurance to collect data on the MLR from dental plans in the state on an annual basis and to make the data public within 45 days. The Superintendent would then be required to calculate the average loss ratio, and identify outliers. Outlier plans would be required to submit a remediation plan to improve the value of the plan for patients. 

The bill faces further votes in Senate and House.