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SCDA Member Benefits Group EgramAugust 2010
In This Issue
Second HITECH / Healthcare Reform Seminar Added
CareCredit Patient Financing Update from ADA
PCI Certification of Level 4 Merchants is Big Buzz...
Government Subsidy on Medical Premiums Ended June 1st
Second HITECH / Healthcare Reform Seminar Added
Due to the overwhelming interest in our September seminar (which is now full) discussing the HITECH Act and National Healthcare Reform and how both will affect dental practices, we've added a second seminar on these topics to be held on Friday, November 12th.
 
The location, speakers, etc. are all the same, the only difference is the date, so if you have any interest in attending the November seminar and did not register in time to make the September one, be sure to register soon.  Click here to learn more about this seminar and to obtain a registration form.

CareCredit Patient Financing Update from the American Dental Association (ADA)
The New York Attorney General is investigating CareCredit's patient financing practices and served subpoenas to the ADA and the New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) on Monday, August 16th. 
 
Below is a statement by Ronald L. Tankersley, DDS, President, American Dental Association.
 
"The American Dental Association shares the concern expressed in a letter it just received from the NY Attorney General's office about patient credit financing practices. We will review it and respond accordingly within the specified timeframe.
 
First and foremost, dentists are health care professionals, and they want to help their patients receive the treatment they need and want. Patients may not have dental insurance or readily available funds to pay for their care at the time of treatment. Some patients may wish to budget their treatment costs over time. In these types of instances, third-party financing can be a useful option for patients to structure payment plans to cover necessary or elective dental care.
 
The ADA fully supports patients' right to understand their treatment plans and the costs of treatment. Financing can greatly benefit patients when it comes to paying for their dental treatment, provided that patients fully understand their terms of the financing program.
 
The ADA continues to encourage dental office staffs to advise patients to contact financing companies directly before signing an agreement if they do not fully understand how the program works."
 
The SCDA Member Benefits Group will continue to pass on updates regarding this matter as we receive them.
PCI Certification of Level 4 Merchants is Big Buzz...
In the credit card industry right now!  You may be hearing quite a bit about the need to certify your PCI compliance for your practice as of late.  For several years now small merchants were required to be compliant and many of you have been working on putting your offices into compliant status, however, NOW a new requirement is that you are formally CERTIFIED as compliant.  Any Visa/MasterCard processing company, vendor, bank, etc. that you've ever worked with has likely been sending you notice of this requirement; many have recently ramped up their marketing efforts, thus causing some confusion as to who it is that a merchant is actually supposed to certify with! 
 
The SCDA member benefit vendor, TransFirst Heath Services, has worked terminal upgrades and other projects with many of you over the past few years and it's very likely (if you are presently processing with TransFirst) you are in fact compliant.  The requirement for CERTIFICATION is now the next formal step that must be made.  TransFirst has designed a plan that received approval from Visa/MasterCard for the validation of their merchants.   Beginning in September, they will be working with their partners and merchants on rolling this program out.  Keep an eye out for more information to come.
Government Subsidy on Medical Premiums Ended June 1st
I've recently received a couple of calls inquiring about the government subsidy that covered 65% of the COBRA/State Continuation premiums of those employees who were involuntarily terminated.  Congress has not approved another extension of this to date and it appears that they most likely will not at this point in time.  This means that any employee who is involuntarily terminated on June 1, 2010 to present date and for the foreseeable future can elect COBRA/State Continuation to keep their benefits in place, but they will be responsible for 100% of the premiums. 
 
Should something change in the coming days or months, I'll be sure to pass it along.

As always, contact me at 1-800-327-2598, ext. 100 with any questions or visit us at www.scda.org


Sincerely,

 
mark's sig
 
 

Mark K. Brown
SCDA Member Benefits Group Manager

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