Medicare Just Got a Little Easier: Three Things to Know

Feb 9, 2024
After significant advocacy efforts from the American Dental Association (ADA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a proposed rule to rescind certain Medicare Part D and C requirements for providers.

CMS recently published this information in a proposed rule, which is set to be finalized in 2018. Here are three things you need to know about the proposed Medicare changes:

  1. Dentists no longer need to enroll in or opt out of Medicare to continue to provide dental care and prescriptions for Part C (also known as Medicare Advantage plans) and Part D drug plan beneficiaries. Read more in the ADA News article.
  2. Dentists no longer need to be enrolled in Medicare to provide supplemental services to patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
  3. The ADA believes these changes remove duplicative paperwork and are good for both patients and dentists.

The ADA’s advocacy team has been working on these issues for more than three years, and we look forward to CMS finalizing this proposed rule in 2018. However, the agency has not rescinded the two-year optout period for providers. Dentists who have already opted out cannot accept payments for services covered by Medicare Part B or Medicare Advantage plans. Learn more in this ADA News article.

If you have any questions, please contact Director of Third Party Payer and Professional Affairs Casey Stoutamire at cstoutamire@floridadental.org or 850.681.3629.

News Bites - January 2018