Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1101

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/4/25
• Report Pass: 3/6/25
• Engrossed: 3/31/25
• Refer: 4/1/25

Caption

Dental insurance; mandating reports by carrier; requiring certain data to be included in initial report. Effective date.

Summary

SB1101 creates a new reporting framework for dental insurance carriers in Oklahoma. The bill defines key terms such as “dental coverage plan,” “dental loss ratio,” “community benefit expenditure,” and distinguishes between small and large employers for reporting purposes. It requires any dental carrier that issues, sells, renews, or offers a dental coverage plan to file an annual report with the Insurance Commissioner showing the dental loss ratio for the prior calendar year by market segment. The first report must cover calendar years 2024, 2025, and 2026, and subsequent reports are due each year by June 30. The bill also requires the Insurance Commissioner to post all submitted reports on a dedicated website page by September 15 each year. In addition, the Insurance Department must evaluate whether the public reporting is effectively informing consumers and may recommend whether the reporting requirement should continue or be modified. The act is scheduled to take effect November 1, 2025.

Impact

SB1101 adds new provisions to Title 36 of the Oklahoma Statutes by creating Sections 6170.1 and 6170.2, establishing a dental insurance transparency and reporting regime. It affects dental carriers operating in Oklahoma by imposing annual filing obligations and by requiring disclosure of dental loss ratio data, including certain taxes, fees, fraud-reduction amounts, and public-benefit expenditures. The Insurance Commissioner and Insurance Department gain new administrative duties to receive, publish, and evaluate the reports, while consumers and policymakers gain access to standardized information about how premium dollars are used in the dental insurance market.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have received generally favorable treatment in the Legislature. It passed the Senate Business & Insurance Committee unanimously, passed the Senate on third reading by a wide margin, and also advanced through the House Insurance Committee with only one dissenting vote. The available record suggests broad support for increased transparency in dental insurance, with no committee transcripts indicating major opposition or extensive debate.

Contention

The main policy issue embedded in SB1101 is whether public reporting of dental loss ratios will meaningfully improve consumer understanding and market accountability without imposing unnecessary administrative burdens on carriers. The bill’s inclusion of community benefit expenditures and its exclusion of marketing costs from that category may also be relevant to insurers, who could view the definitions as affecting how loss ratios are calculated and presented. While the vote history shows little overt resistance, the House committee vote of 6-1 indicates at least some concern about the reporting mandate or its implementation details.