BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, D, is calling for a special commission to study and recommend possible reforms in dental insurance coverage.
The governor announced his intention to seek creation of the special commission in a recent letter to the Legislature in which he told lawmakers he would not sign a bill passed in the final days of last year's legislative session.
The bill would have banned health plans from limiting balance billing — moves by a provider to collect the difference between the provider's billed amount and the amount an insurer is willing to reimburse — by contractually setting the fees dentists charged patients who received services that were not reimbursable under their own dental coverage.
The governor said he agrees with lawmakers that dental insurance coverage is in need of reform, but was concerned that the bill might actually have the unintended effect of increasing patients' costs.
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