The bill adds new sections to chapter 48.43 RCW and amends RCW 48.43.743. It prohibits dental-only plans from denying coverage for procedures solely because they were performed on the same day, subject to specified exceptions including measures to prevent fraud, unbundling where payment covers multiple procedure elements, clinical appropriateness and medical necessity determinations, claims pended for additional documentation or provider narrative, and plan benefit limits. It limits a carrier’s ability to require payment by credit card by requiring advance notice to providers of any card fees, offering an alternative fee-free payment method, and providing clear instructions to select an alternative; carriers that contract with a vendor to process payments must require that vendor to comply with the carrier notification requirement. The insurance commissioner is authorized to adopt rules to implement these provisions. The bill directs the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to contract with the William D. Ruckelshaus Center to design and facilitate a collaborative forum with specified participants to study dental loss ratio and relative payments to dentists and denturists by network status, provide quarterly progress updates to designated legislative members, and submit a final report with findings and recommendations to the Legislature by June 30, 2026. It requires health carriers offering dental-only plans to submit annual Washington-only data to the commissioner by April 1 for the preceding year—total dental members, total dental revenue, total dental payments, dental loss ratio, average premium per member per month, and year-over-year percent change—submitted electronically in a commissioner-prescribed format; the commissioner must publish the reported information on a searchable public website. For purposes of the amended reporting section, “health carrier” is expanded to include health care service contractors, limited health care service contractors, and disability insurers offering dental-only coverage, and the statute states nothing in the section establishes a minimum dental loss ratio. Legally, the measure creates new prohibitions and procedural requirements and amends existing reporting law—it is a regulatory and procedural change rather than a change to criminal penalties. Section 4 is specified to take effect July 1, 2025. The provided facts do not state effective dates for the other new sections or the amendment, whether other sections have emergency status, the full scope of required vendor compliance beyond the notification provision, or any timelines for the commissioner’s rulemaking.

If enacted, dental insurers and similar contractors will no longer be allowed to deny a provider’s claim just because multiple dental procedures were done the same day, except for specified reasons like fraud prevention, clinical appropriateness, medical necessity, bundled-payment rules, pending documentation, or plan limits. Insurers may only pay providers by credit card if they tell the provider in advance about any card fees, offer a fee-free payment alternative, and give clear instructions to choose that alternative; vendors who process payments must follow the same notice rule. The insurance commissioner must create rules to implement these changes, the state will require annual Washington-only dental plan data submissions that the commissioner will publish for public comparison, and a facilitated forum led by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center must study dental loss ratios and payment differences and report back quarterly and with a final report by June 30, 2026. Section 4 becomes effective July 1, 2025. Practically, dental carriers, limited health care contractors, disability insurers, payment vendors, and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner will face new reporting and compliance work, and providers should see fewer denials solely based on same-day care and fewer involuntary credit-card fees. Public posting of carrier-specific dental revenues, payments, loss ratios, and premium changes may increase scrutiny of pricing and provider payment practices and could pressure carriers to adjust reimbursement or administrative procedures. It is unclear from the available text when all parts take effect beyond Section 4, how quickly the commissioner must adopt rules, and whether vendor compliance requirements cover every payment-related provision.