Category: Advocacy, ODPAC & Legislation

The Ohio Dental Association has long had policies in support of dental licensure reform and freedom of movement for dentists between states. In fact, when I was first hired at the ODA way back in 1994 as the director of legal and legislative services, the ODA hosted a national symposium on dental licensure reform that included leaders from ... [continue reading]

Legislation that would prohibit insurance companies from setting fees for non-covered services and improve licensure portability by entering into the Dentist and Dental Hygienist ... [continue reading]

New Ohio dental Medicaid fees went into effect on Jan. 1. The new fees come to an average of a 93% increase over the previous fees, which had not seen any significant increase in over 20 years. “The new reimbursement rates are having a positive effect across the board,” said Dr. Jennifer Kale, chair of the ODA Medicaid Working Group. “Many ... [continue reading]

Let’s all be clear about the 93% fee increase that started Jan. 1, 2024 for Ohio dental Medicaid. It would never have happened without the efforts of the Ohio Dental Association. Individual dentists in the state could not have done it. Small group practices would have failed and certainly, large DSOs could not have gotten this fee increase ... [continue reading]

Day at the Statehouse, the Ohio Dental Association’s most important grassroots advocacy event, will be May 8 in Columbus. Day at the Statehouse gives dentists, dental residents and ... [continue reading]

Day at the Statehouse, the Ohio Dental Association’s most important grassroots advocacy event, will be May 8 in Columbus. Day at the ... [continue reading]

Last month, I wrote my column on the ODA membership survey conducted in the fall of 2023. To review, we commission an independent survey research firm to conduct a broad, comprehensive survey of the entire ODA membership periodically. We did such surveys in 1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2018 and again in 2023. While the surveys have ... [continue reading]

Dental insurance plans are dictating fees for dental services that the insurance company does not cover for enrollees. This practice is fundamentally unfair and unnecessarily interferes with the patient-dentist relationship. Senate Bill 115, which would prohibit insurance companies from setting fees for services they do not cover, recently passed ... [continue reading]

In years past the membership survey has shown that one of the most important membership benefits of the ODA is our advocacy. Your input is vital to letting us know what we are doing well or could do better. I have a feeling that this year’s survey will again show that advocacy is among the most important member benefits. To me, advocacy is the ... [continue reading]

The ODA has been very active in advocating for a substantial increase in the state’s funding of Ohio’s dental Medicaid program. We have engaged state leaders for the last two years as we prepared for passage of the state’s budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. These efforts are paying off. The state budget that passed the Ohio General ... [continue reading]