Bill could lead to excessive dental costs

If the Iowa Legislature passes House File 2229, a trip to the dentist could be more shocking to your pocketbook. Today, the 1.2 million Iowans with dental insurance are protected from excessive dental fees and out-of-pocket costs. H.F. 2229 would gut these existing consumer protections.

The intent of H.F. 2229 is to prevent dental insurance carriers from limiting what dentists can charge patients for those services that are not included in the patients' dental plan. Unfortunately, the way the bill is written, there are further unintended consequences that could open the door to higher out-of-pocket costs. Passing this bill will jeopardize important consumer protections that have been in dental plans for decades. Iowans with dental insurance would no longer receive cost protections for vital dental services. For example, if a patient decided to have a third cleaning and the patient's dental plan only covered two cleanings per year, the patient could be charged a much larger fee for that third cleaning.

H.F. 2229 could put a financial burden on unsuspecting insured Iowa dental patients, many of whom already are managing tight budgets.

Paula Dierenfeld

Executive director

Federation of Iowa Insurers