Dental Services Bill Signed

State Representative Joan Ballweg of Markesan is pleased with the Governor’s signing of Assembly Bill 109, the dental services bill last Friday. “I’d like to thank the governor for signing AB 109. This bill represents a compromise between the Wisconsin Dental Association and the Alliance of Health Insurers. I believe society is best served when the prices are directly related to the costs of provided services and not set by a third-party who doesn’t pay for it,” Ballweg stated. The legislation protects consumers from some dental benefit plans that attempt to set price schedules on services that are not covered by the dental plan itself. In an effort to foster greater transparency in actual costs of providing dental services, AB 109 prohibits a dental benefit plan from setting fees for services the plan does not actually cover. Dr. David Clemens, DDS, of Wisconsin Dells said, “As a board member of the Wisconsin Dental Association, I’m pleased to see the governor’s support of AB 109. The recent push to cost-shifting at the benefit of the corporate insurance plan is not in the public’s best interest. I thank Rep. Ballweg for her leadership in helping protect dentistry patients from this ‘hidden tax’.”