The state of California has several dental-focused bills knocking on its door.
Here are three bills that have been proposed in California that Becker's has reported on since Feb. 20:
1. Bill AB 481, aims to expand dental assistants' scope of practice and create new licensure pathways.
2. Bill AB 1048 aims to close loopholes that deny patients coverage and lead to increased out-of-pocket costs. This would be done by onboarding some of the protections to dental insurance plans that the Affordable Care Act brought to health insurance plans.
3. Bill AB 952 intends to require dental insurance plans to disclose whether the enrollee's plan is subject to state or federal regulations at the time the provider is ascertaining a patient's eligibility and benefit determination. It would also require that any membership card, coverage card or other documentation issued by a dental plan to the enrollee include whether the enrollee's plan is subject to state or federal regulation, according to the CDA.