Breaking: States Nationwide Enact Wave of Dental Insurance Reforms
A surge of legislative activity is reshaping the dental insurance landscape across the country, with 37 new laws enacted in 2025 aimed at increasing patient access to care and ensuring fair reimbursement for dentists. These reforms address issues ranging from telehealth coverage and anesthesia access to protections against insurer practices that limit patient choice and stifle competition.
The flurry of activity builds on years of advocacy by dental associations and patient groups seeking to address longstanding concerns about restrictive dental insurance plans.Many of the new laws leverage a federal safe harbor provision allowing dentists to collectively negotiate with insurers on non-financial contract provisions, as seen with Nebraska‘s Legislative Bill 2375.
Texas passed several key measures.House Bill 1052 mandates that health insurers cover telehealth services provided across state lines for Texas residents when the provider maintains a Texas office. Senate Bill 527 prohibits health benefit plans covering general anesthesia from excluding coverage for medically necessary dental anesthesia services for young patients or those unable to undergo treatment without it. Notably, House Bill 335, which would have repealed existing law requiring equal payment for in- and out-of-network dentists, was defeated.
these state-level changes reflect a broader national trend toward dental insurance reform. Further data is available at ADA.org/dentalinsurance.
