The Alabama legislator wants dental insurance companies to allow the unused benefits to be transferred

The state representative Phillip Rigsby, a Huntsville Republican, has presented a bill that would require Alabama dental insurers to allow beneficiaries to transfer the benefits not used in later years.

The Rigsby bill follows the model of other states, such as Massachusetts, which currently offer this option to its residents.

Low HB400The amount of the aggregate dollar that someone could carry is limited to twice the maximum annual benefit that is in force for the previous year, according to their text.

The bill adds that claims incurred during the current year, but not paid until the following year was subtracted from the maximum annual benefit of the current year.

The proposed law does not include specific accidents of accidents, individual compensation of the hospital, credit, Medicare supplement, long -term care, disability income or other health insurance policies of limited benefits, or coverage issued as supplementary to civil liability insurance, workers compensation or automobile medical payment insurance, according to their text.

Includes a provision that allows the Alabama State Insurance Department to adopt the necessary rules for the implementation of the bill.

Last year, a report from the Alabama Public Health Department highlighted the current state of the State Dental crisis

“Access to Alabama care is worse than any state in which you have practiced,” said Carson Cruise, a pediatric dentist in Florence.

“Mississippi is usually the worst in everything when it comes to health metrics. But if Mississippi is the floor, Alabama brought a shovel. “

With only 41.6 dentists per 100,000 residents, Alabama had the second relationship of dentists by population of the country in 2023, According to the American Dental Association.

Arkansas had the lowest relationship, with 41.2 dentists per 100,000 people.

Both fall well below the national rate of approximately 60 dentists per 100,000 residents.

The dentists told Al.com earlier that the biggest problem they face are the low insurance reimbursement rates, especially the state agency of Medicaid.

“When you look at the number of patients I have, I’m doing very well,” said Cruise.

“We have 100 new patients a month.”

“But if you observe the amount of money that the business raises, the expenses have increased so much that what is in my pocket is approximately 10% less than what it was three years ago,” he continued.

The efforts to get to Rigsby were not successful immediately.