Register here for Legislative Day 2018 on Jan. 25, 2018!
It was 35 years in the making, but I finally made my first trip to Madison on March 22, 2017 to attend Legislative Day. I witnessed firsthand how our hard earned dues protect the legal and economical environment to help us provide the quality of care our patients expect and deserve.
There were two issues brought before our legislative body. The first dealt with access to patient records. Apparently, if a dental practice is owned by a non-dentist, there was no legal authority to release records for inquiry. This seems to be a no-brainer and was enthusiastically endorsed by most of the senators and assemblymen we talked to.
The other issue is a bit muddier but probably exemplifies best why we need to be politically active and engage our politicians, because this issue pits us against the behemoths of the insurance industry. It involves transparency in insurance contracts. It may not be as widespread in our state yet, but apparently dentists have found their insurance contracts have been ’rented out’ to a third party that may reimburse at a lower rate than agreed upon. We believe dentists should have the right to be notified and the ability to opt out of the contract if this happens.
Big insurance has the money behind them to leverage our politicians but we put a human face on the matter. Our representatives can see us as their neighbors, whose kids may share the same schools as ours; in fact they may even be our patients. The legislators I met seemed very interested in our concerns. I met some new friends and some old ones I hadn’t seen since dental school 35 years ago. So get involved! Let’s help preserve our way to practice dentistry as we see fit. I plan to return next year for as the saying goes ’if you don’t come to the table, you might just find yourself on the menu!’”