SB 103 (20% Rule)

We’ve just learned that SB 103 (abolishing the 20% rule) will be VOTED on in the Senate Committee on Public Health & Welfare (SPHW) THIS WEEK (2/5-2/8)!

Please contact members of the SPHW IMMEDIATELY and ask them to oppose SB 103! Click on the Senator’s names to send an email.

• Sen. Beverly Gossage (Eudora), Chair
• Sen. Renee Erickson (Wichita)
• Sen. Pat Pettey (Kansas City)
• Sen. Molly Baumgardner (Louisburg)
• Sen. Chase Blasi (Wichita)
• Sen. Cindy Holscher (Overland Park)
• Sen. Kristen O'Shea (Topeka)
• Sen. Mark Steffen (Hutchinson)
• Sen. Mike Thompson (Shawnee)

A bill (HB 2565) has been introduced in the Kansas House of Representatives at the request of the Association of Dental Service Organizations (ADSO) to abolish the 20% rule regarding practice ownership (see Section 2(d))!  This bill appears to be identical to the SB 103 which was introduced in the Kansas Senate last year and is still active in the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare. Many calls, emails, and contacts to Senators by dentists made the difference in stopping the bill last year and the KDA is asking for your actions again!

The new bill, HB 2565, is assigned to the House Committee on Health and Human Services. This is an issue in which many dentists across Kansas have expressed grave concern! Though the bill contains some safeguards championed by the KDA last year (see Sections 1(b), 3(a)(C)(21), and 4(b)), the KDA ultimately opposed this bill after being flooded with calls from members to reject the proposal.

HB 2565 will remove safety measures implemented to protect the public and ensure dentist-owners are in tune with employee dentists, dental staff, and the patients they treat. The bill will allow investor-controlled dental practices to expand unchecked with no promise of increased dental access (particularly in rural communities and underserved Kansans) while decreasing the dentist-patient relationship.

Please contact members of the House Committee on Health and Human Services immediately and ask them to oppose HB 2565!