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This year, with your support, WSDA launched the most comprehensive and aggressive dental benefits reform campaign in Association history. As a result, we successfully passed Senate Bill 5351, resulting in immediate wins for dentists and patients on same-day denials and virtual credit card payments, and charting a path forward for non-network reimbursement fairness and dental loss ratio.

We are now at another critical moment for dental benefits reform action, and we need your help!

As WSDA shared earlier this year, Delta Dental of Washington (DDWA) has a uniquely anticompetitive out-of-network reimbursement policy that punishes patients and dentists. While we are working to address this issue through the legislatively mandated Ruckelshaus mediation process, we are also urging dentists to help demonstrate the need for a change to this policy.

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We call on all dentists to NOT participate in any DDWA annual member meeting until the company changes its anticompetitive out-of-network policy. This includes NOT submitting your proxy to DDWA.

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Here’s why choosing to NOT participate in the annual member meeting is so important:

• DDWA cannot elect, re-elect, or appoint member directors to its board of directors without a quorum at an annual or special meeting.
• Since the settlement of WSDA’s lawsuit with DDWA in 2020, DDWA has been unable to achieve a quorum without the assistance of WSDA.
• The WSDA Board of Directors has decided that the Association will no longer provide that assistance and will, in fact, discourage participation by WSDA members unless and until DDWA changes its out-of-network reimbursement policy.
• The company can try to fill vacancies on a short-term basis, but that cannot happen unless three of four members of its Member Nominating Panel (MNP) recommend a candidate. As part of our lawsuit settlement, there are two WSDA representatives on the MNP who are equally committed to pushing for a change in this policy.

To be clear, limiting DDWA’s ability to add member dentists to its board roster will not prevent the board from exercising its fiduciary duties or keep the company from conducting business. However, it will send a strong and visible message that member dentists can no longer tolerate the company’s anticompetitive approach to out-of-network benefit reimbursements.

We fully expect DDWA to vehemently protest this strategy, through bluster and threats in response to our effort. I want to again emphasize that WSDA’s objective is to take a firm public stand that demonstrates the need for DDWA to become more responsive to the needs of practicing dentists and their patients.

We strongly encourage you to join our effort by refusing to attend or submit your proxy for the upcoming DDWA annual member meeting. Share this message with your colleagues and encourage them to do the same. We will keep you updated on the progress of our collective efforts.

Thank you for all you do to serve your patients, support organized dentistry, and improve oral health in Washington state.

Dr. Chris Dorow
WSDA President