Dr. Riggs and CAD-MN on MPR today, July 29 at 9:00am: Please plan to tune into a radio conversation about dental care access on MPR News with Angela Davis that is scheduled for today, July 29 from 9 to 10am.  Dr Riggs is an invited guest and will represent CAD-MN on the program that will also feature Dr. Elmi Abdulkadir.  Dr. Rigggs will discuss dental access in MN and the role of CAD-MN in helping Minnesotans get critical dental access.  You can listen to the radio conversation on FM 91.1 or https://www.mprnews.org/listen 

MDH accepting applications for State Loan repayment program (SLRP): The Minnesota Department of Health is currently accepting applications for the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP).  Eligible clinicians include OB/GYN Physicians, Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, Dental Therapists, Registered Dental Hygienists, and General/Pediatric Dentists working at eligible sites in Minnesota.  Please see the Program Information Notice for all eligibility requirements and details. 2026 Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program.  Application deadline is September 9, 2026.

Here is the weekly update from CAD-MN.

• Dr. Riggs and CAD-MN on MPR on Wednesday, July 29 at 9:00am: Please plan to tune into a radio conversation about dental care access on MPR News with Angela Davis that is currently scheduled on Wednesday, July 29 from 9 to 10am.  Dr Riggs is an invited guest and will represent CAD-MN on the program that will also feature Dr. Elmi Abdulkadir.  You can listen to the radio conversation on FM 91.1 or https://www.mprnews.org/listen
• 2027 Clinical Dental Education Innovation Grant Program: A request for proposals has been posted on the MDH grants and loan page.  Application deadline is September 3, 2026.  Learn more at 2027 Clinical Dental Education Innovation Grant Program
• CAD-MN is arranging visits by legislators for our members: CAD-MN is helping arrange visits to the clinics of our members by their legislators.  You will have tremendous support from CAD-MN for these visits.  Matthew Bergeron, CAD-MN lobbyist, is helping in logistics related to getting the appropriate legislators.  John Pournoor, CAD-MN Policy Director, will help our members with customized content needed for the legislator visits.  These visits are extremely useful to help you get facetime with your legislators and get our voices heard by the state policy makers. If your organization is interested in these visits, please fill out the MS Word Form that has been sent to the CAD-MN key contact from your organization.  Additional information regarding these visits can be obtained at the weekly GAC meetings.

MN Oral Health Coalition presents, Advancing Older Adult Oral Health: Innovations, Partnerships, and Grantee Impact

• August 5, 2026
• 9:00 – 10:00 am Breakfast & Networking * 10:00 am – 3:00 pm Program 
• Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis, 615 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

A dynamic showcase highlighting best practices in geriatric dentistry and age-friendly dental care across dental academic institutions, long-term care facilities, community settings, and clinical practices.  
Registration link:  Advancing Older Adult Oral Health: Innovations, Partnerships, and Grantee Impact

Contact: Nancy Franke Wilson at nancy@minnesotaoralhealthcoalition.org 

MN Oral Health Coalition Infomar: Minnesota Health Care Programs Dental Benefits & Billing 101 on August 13, noon via Zoom by Nicole Ferrian, Clinical Innovation Director, Apple Tree Dental.  This infomar will provide an overview of how Minnesota Health Care Programs dental benefits and billing work, including information about regulators, payers, third party administrators, the dental benefit set, prior authorizations, medical/dental services, payment rates, and charging for non-covered services. 

Registration link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Fg24J-mDQ-ucwrdO-kP77A

1. Ann Bobst, Benefits Policy Manager, DHS will attend the special joint GAC and IAC meeting on Friday, July 10 at 10:00am.  This meeting should already be on your calendar. CAD-MN is providing our members an opportunity to ask questions and have a productive discussion with Ann. This special meeting will be coordinated by Dr. Sheila Riggs, Chair, BODs, CAD-MN and John Kunelius, Chair, GAC.
2. Department of Health Loan Forgiveness Grants: CAD-MN has heard through some of our members that they have received the Department of Health loan forgiveness grants.  The department does not make any public announcements about awarding these grants because of privacy reasons.  We wanted to update our members regarding the loan forgiveness grants.
3. Kristin Artinger is named interim dean, School of Dentistry, U of MN: Kristin Bruk Artinger, professor and associate dean for research and discovery, has agreed to serve as interim dean for the School of Dentistry. Dr. Artinger will begin her term effective immediately and continue in the role until a new dean is named.

1. New Committee Chairs for GAC and IAC:

I would like to give a big THANK YOU to Deb Jacobi, outgoing chair for Government Affairs Committee (GAC) and John Kunelius, outgoing chair for Industry Affairs Committee (IAC) for going above and beyond and give their support to CAD-MN in being the founding chairs for the GAC and IAC respectively!  You both contributed your time and effort when everything was new and needed to be created.  You made the GAC and IAC forums of discussions that helped CAD-MN make profound impacts for our members – #CADMNProud!

I would now like to welcome John Kunelius, the incoming chair for GAC and Tracy Larson, incoming chair for IAC.  This past year Tracy would fill in for John a few times, so she already knows how to keep advancing our work.  John and Tracy were approved as chairs by the Board of Directors (BODs) of CAD-MN and by the GAC and IAC committees aligned with our bylaws.  A big welcome to both John and Tracy and I look forward to working with them in their new roles!

Dr. Sheila Riggs, Chair BODs, CAD-MN

2. Dental Access Work Group (DAWG) meeting summary from June 22: Please see enclosed high-level summary of the DAWG meeting from June 22.  CAD-MN will be advocating for small set of fee schedules (not a one size fits all fee schedule) in alignment with the legislation which stated we should consider specialty, geography and access.
3. CAD-MN 2026 legislative report from Matthew Bergeron, Larkin Hoffman: Please find enclosed the 2026 legislative summary report from Matthew Bergeron, CAD-MN lobbyist from Larkin Hoffman.  The summary report highlights the achievements due to the CAD-MN advocacy during the 2026 legislative session.  These achievements are aligned to CAD-MN’s legislative priorities that were decided at the beginning of 2026 and adopted by CAD-MN Board of Directors.  

Please see below an update and background information from Ann Bobst (Benefits Policy Manager, DHS) to John Kunelius (Chair, IAC, CAD-MN) and Dr. Sheila Riggs (Chair, BODs, CAD-MN) for a special joint GAC and IAC meeting that will be held on Friday, July 10 at 10:00am that Ann will attend (Invitation for this meeting will go out soon).  Please read through this information and leverage this opportunity provided by CAD-MN to ask questions and to have a productive discussion with Ann.

Hi Sheila and John,

Thank you again for your flexibility in my needing to reschedule attending last week’s CAD-MN Industry Affairs meeting for an update on DHS discussions regarding Acentra’s authorization determinations. I am writing with some written updates for the group before I attend the July 10 meeting.

Firstly, DHS dental policy staff will be undertaking a review of a sample of Acentra’s prior authorization denials for scaling and root planing between April 1 and May 31. This will allow us to see how the policy changes made in March are impacting outcomes. This will also allow us to identify issues, patterns, and insight into how Acentra is implementing our policy requirements. We will use the results of this review to inform next steps in addressing this and other priority issues with Acentra and give us concrete information to bring to their attention.

Next, below is some additional information and responses to the specific issues we discussed at the last meeting.

Mandatory Mobility Notations

DHS continues to emphasize to Acentra that case notes from providers related to mobility are sufficient for review needs.

Bitewings

Vertical bitewings are not required in policy. They are identified as preferred due to being the standard for periodontal diagnosis. Additionally, dental policy staff did attempt to address this in updates to the Dental Authorization Requirement Tables made in March.

Have providers noticed any changes related to this issue over the past two months?

SRP Authorization after FMD

The CDT coding manual explicitly states that FMD (D4355) must happen on a different date of service than the periodontal evaluation (D0180). This is on page 35 of the 2026 CDT book.

If providers are getting paid for D4355, the CDT manual must be followed. Dental policy has reviewed this request, and it was also previously discussed at DSAC. At this time, DHS does not agree with this change because it goes against the industry standard. The criteria in the 2026 ADA coding book states that these cannot be done on the same date of service.

Partial Denture Denials

DHS staff is also concerned that Acentra seems to be denying these rather than downcoding and are considering the best way to address this with Acentra.

Documentation Timelines

Acentra is required in the contract to make a decision within 2-3 business days of receiving additional documentation. For example, if documentation is requested within 10 days but it is received on day 2, Acentra should be making the determination within 2-3 days of the date of receipt, not the end of the request period.

Our contracts manager has asked for specific examples related to this issue. Acentra has documentation timelines that they are beholden to in our contracts, and we would like to review some examples to determine if they are out of compliance with the terms of the contract. Please send any examples to us. 

Interpreters

DHS would like to remind providers that providing interpreter services is required for access to care regardless of whether or not the provider is reimbursed. CDT 9990 is the code for “certified translation or sign language services per visit” and can only be billed once per member per appointment. A state law change would be required to change the rate.

We hope these updates provide you with information on the steps we are taking to eliminate any unnecessary barriers to dental care. I look forward to reconnecting with the group on July 10.

Thank you!

Ann

Ann Bobst, MPH (she/her)

Benefits Policy Manager, Health Improvement and Benefit Design

Minnesota Department of Human Services

At CAD-MN, we continue to work on key processes and tools as benefits of your membership.   We hope these tools help you leverage the content we provide and bring value to you.   

In the past, we have rolled out CAD-MN YouTube and LinkedIn sites (see below).  We are now pleased to roll out our website with membership access to the cadmn.org! The website is designed to give you access to exclusive membership information that is not available to the general public. As we continue to grow as an organization, more information will be added to the site. 

In the next few days, you will receive an email with your login information. If you do not see the email by the end of the week, please check your spam folder. If you need assistance, please reach out to Emma Larson at elarson@appletreedental.org

CAD-MN YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_aau0OqwwWfLgOa2yUfW1A