The hearing on HB 2564 was opened by Chairperson Dietrich. Revisor Eileen Ma gave an overview of the bill. (Attachment 1)

Kevin Robertson of the Kansas Dental Association testified as a proponent of the bill. (Attachment 2) He explained that the bill fixes a loophole in the way insurance carriers reimburse or compensate dental providers via virtual credit cards. The problem is that these virtual cards come with processing fees close to 5%. A law was passed in 2022 that addressed the problem by allowing dental providers to opt out. However, because the law had no timeline, insurance carriers were opting dental providers back in after a short time period requiring dental providers to go back through the process of opting out. The amended law would establish a default opt out for these types of payment methods. 

Daniel Nielson, Owner of Great Plans Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Attachment 3) shared his experience of having staff spend a significant amount of time going through the opt out process paperwork for nearly 150 different insurance plans. The bill restores the legislative intent of the 2022 law.

The committee asked questions of the proponents. 

Written-only, proponent testimony was received from:

Adam Lukens, Owner, Lukens Family Dental and President of Kansas Dental Association (Attachment 4)

Nathan Niles, Owner, Niles Family Dentistry (Attachment 5)

Written-only, opponent testimony was received from Bianca Balale for National Association of Dental Plans and Alex Young for the American Council of Life Insurers (Attachment 6).

Chairperson Dietrich closed the hearing on HB 2564.