Illinois Senate Bill SB1984

Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25
• Refer: 2/6/25

Caption

DENTAL CARE-ELECTRONIC BILLING

Summary

SB1984 amends Illinois’s Uniform Electronic Transactions in Dental Care Billing Act to delay and expand the state’s electronic billing requirements for dental claims. The bill pushes the date when dental plan carriers are no longer required to accept electronic eligibility and claims transactions from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2028, while also creating a series of exemptions for dental care providers who may continue using non-electronic claims submission under specified circumstances. The bill also requires dental plan carriers to create and maintain online portals that provide detailed, current benefit and billing information and allow dentists to submit claims electronically at no charge. Those portals must accept electronic attachments such as x-rays, and carriers must provide remittance advice with payment. The measure further states that dentists are not required to accept only electronic payment and that carriers must offer alternative payment methods without extra fees if requested.

Impact

If enacted, SB1984 would amend 215 ILCS 111 by changing existing electronic claims rules, adding new exemption provisions, and imposing new portal and remittance-advice obligations on dental plan carriers. It would also require exempt dental care providers to file a form with the Illinois Department of Insurance identifying the basis for their exemption, and it authorizes the Department to issue the form and adopt rules to implement the Act. The bill affects dentists, dental practices, dental insurers, HMOs, dental service plan corporations, and other entities that administer or reimburse dental benefits in Illinois.

Sentiment

The bill’s overall tone appears supportive of dental providers and operational flexibility rather than strict mandatory digitization. By delaying the electronic-claims deadline and creating multiple exemptions, the measure suggests concern about implementation burdens, especially for smaller, older, newly established, financially constrained, or medically limited providers. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment beyond the bill’s text and sponsor framing.

Contention

The main points of contention are likely to be the scope of the exemptions and the compliance burden placed on dental plan carriers. Carriers may object to the requirement to build and maintain a detailed, HIPAA-compliant portal with real-time benefit information, electronic attachment handling, and claim-specific remittance details. Dental providers, by contrast, are likely to favor the exemptions and the ability to request non-electronic payment without added fees. The bill also creates a policy tension between standardizing electronic transactions and preserving paper or alternative workflows for smaller or less technologically equipped practices.