ATTORNEY ON LAW
Members Have Questions about Legislation NYSDA counsel responds to queries about vaccine mandates and other laws affecting dental practices. Lance Plunkett, J.D., LL.M. There are a few questions about new laws, both federal and state, which come up frequently that are worth setting straight. Congress has enacted a “no-surprise billing law,” something New York State already had. But the federal law is broader than the state law. While the New York law was written to apply only to physicians and not to dentists, the federal law will apply to dentists who bill for dental services under medical insurance plans, but not to dentists who bill only under standalone dental insurance plans. In that instance, where billing occurs under a medical insurance plan, the federal law supersedes the New York law. Also, the federal law applies only when an out-of-network provider renders services in an in-network facility or when emergency services in a facility are provided by an out-of-network provider. Both situations narrow further when a dentist might actually be caught up in the federal law, because it does not apply to private office settings, only to facilities like hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers. Regulations to implement the federal law are still being developed and will be in place when the federal law takes full effect on Jan. 1.
6 NOVEMBER 2021 The New York State Dental Journal ●
In New York State, dentists will need to pay attention to the federal requirements now when they are out-of-network and bill under a medical insurance plan for emergency services provided at a facility and when they are out-of-network and bill under a medical insurance plan for any services provided at an in-network facility. Safety by Committee The New York Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act requires that employers with 10 or more employees form joint employer-employee safety committees as of this past Nov. 1. (If you have 10 or more employees, you should already have created such a safety committee in your office.) Some items to remember when creating this HERO Act safety committee: • Two-thirds of the committee must be made up of non-supervisory employees. • Non-supervisory employees and not employers select the employee committee members. • Employers are forbidden from interfering with the employee selection process or retaliating against employees for participating in the committee process.
