Weekly Communication
CAD-MN continues to work to keep current and future administrative burdens down for our clinics. In forums across the state, we tell the story that CAD providers are the major safety net clinics for the nearly 1.5 million Minnesotans on public assistance. We routinely invite various payers to our committee meetings so our members can directly connect with the payers, and we can collectively voice our concerns to resolve issues that our members face.
Ann Bobst, our point person at DHS has AGAIN accepted our invitation to attend a special COMBINED GAC and IAC meeting this Friday, June 12 at 10:00am to listen to us regarding the issues and improvements needed in the Acentra Health process. As you all know, Acentra Health is the prior auth vendor for DHS for our patients on fee-for-service and they are very hard to work with. CAD-MN, Board of Directors, chair, Dr. Sheila Riggs will coordinate this special GAC/IAC meeting. Please plan to attend.
Link to Microsoft Teams Meeting on June 12, 10:00am
Meeting ID: 217 431 456 388
Passcode: fEGAW9
If your clinic is a provider in the DentaQuest/UCare network, you will receive a letter from Medica in the very near future – some of our members have already received this letter.
CAD-MN has been working tirelessly with Medica for several months to inform them regarding the issues our members have been facing with UCare’s vendor ~ DentaQuest. CAD-MN’s Industry Affairs Committee (IAC) has been leading this effort. The letter from Medica is the starting point for a series of events including contracts with UCare that will terminate on September 30, 2026, and then the transition to Medica contracts. Medica uses Delta Dental of MN as their vendor. Medica will be posting detailed FAQs on their provider page mid-June regarding this topic. This means starting later this fall; DentaQuest will no longer be a vendor for any of the MCOs!
Please reach out to me at 515-290-0640 if you have any questions. We continue to routinely invite Medica to our IAC meetings so our members can directly connect with Medica.
One more important win we collectively won for our members. Together, CAD-MN will continue to work to positively impact our patients and communities.
Dr. Sheila Riggs, DDS, DMSc
Interim Director, Continuing Dental Education
Associate Professor, Dental Public Health
School of Dentistry
University of Minnesota
17-136 Moos Tower
515 Delaware Street, SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455As you saw in the May 6th CAD-MN’s weekly communication, CAD-MN continues to work to keep current and future administrative burdens down for our clinics. In forums across the state, we tell the story that CAD providers are the major safety net clinics for nearly the 1.5 million Minnesotans on public assistance, and the system must work for us.
Additionally, your membership to CAD-MN, gets you access to content created by our Policy Director, Dr. John Pournoor. See enclosed, a response submitted to Dental Access Work Group (DAWG), a monthly forum convened by DHS regarding Quality Standards for Safety Net Dental Programs prepared on behalf of CAD-MN. More content will soon be available at CAD-MN website to be launched soon!
CAD-MN continues to work to keep current and future administrative burdens down for our clinics (see attached). In forums across the state, we tell the story that CAD providers are the major safety net clinics for nearly the 1.5 million Minnesotans on public assistance, and the system must work for us.
A monthly forum is the Dental Access Work Group (DAWG) convened by DHS. CAD-MN championed the bill that created DAWG in 2025. We now ‘sit at the table’ with DHS to design the key elements of dental Medicaid when we move to a single administrator in 2028. Members of CAD-MN are ‘loud and proud’ during the DAWG meetings to drive results that are critically important for us.
See the attachment from the email (DAWG Meeting Notes) here.
- Ann Bobst at IAC meeting on April 17: A big thank you to Rep. Reyer who attended the GAC meeting on April 10 and listened to our members on multiple topics. A reminder that on April 17, Ann Bobst, our point person at DHS, has accepted our invitation to attend the IAC meeting at 11:00am CST to listen to us regarding the issues and improvements needed in the Acentra process. As you all know, Acentra is the vendor for fee-for-service for DHS and has denied a large number of dental claims. IAC chair, John Kunelius and Dr. Sheila Riggs will coordinate this meeting.
- U of M research counters claims that fluoride in water lowers IQs: University of Minnesota researchers studied data on 10,000 Wisconsinites who graduated high school in 1957 and found that fluoride exposure had no bearing on their IQ as they aged. It counters research cited by Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.
By Jeremy Olson
The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 14, 2026 at 12:15PM - Board of Dentistry Announcement : https://mn.gov/boards/dentistry/
“Board of Dentistry Executive Director Bridgett Anderson resigned effective April 10, 2026. The Board appreciates Bridgett’s service and contributions during her tenure with the agency. The process of identifying new leadership to support the ongoing mission of protecting the public and ensure continuity of operations has begun. Joyce Nelson (joyce.m.nelson@state.mn.us) is serving as interim director. The executive director position will soon be posted. The Board of Dentistry remains committed to delivering high‑quality service to the public and maintaining the highest standards of accountability and professionalism.”
CAD-MN continues to work for all of you, to raise our collective voice and add value. See below two important events that you all can attend, participate, and make your opinion count!
On April 10,Rep. Reyer and Sen Boldon will attend the GAC meeting at 10:00am CST to address our legislative priorities and listen to our views on these priorities. GAC chair, Deb Jacobi and Dr. Sheila Riggs will coordinate this meeting.
On April 17, Ann Bobst, our point person at DHS has accepted our invitation to attend the IAC meeting at 11:00am CST to listen to us regarding the issues and improvements needed in the Acentra process. As you all know, Acentra is the vendor for fee-for-service for DHS and has denied a large number of dental claims. IAC chair, John Kunelius and Dr. Sheila Riggs will coordinate this meeting.
If you do not have an invitation to any of these meetings, feel free to reach out to CAD-MN, Executive Director, Dr. Anila Prabhu (anila@prabhuconsulting.org) so that you can be added to the meeting invitation.
We continue to work as CAD-MN, raising our collective voice regarding our 2026 legislative priorities (see attached: CAD-MN 2026 legislative priorities). One of our priorities is to address state-level administrative burden specifically for fee-for-service claim vendors.
We are currently discussing and addressing an issue with Acentra, vendor for fee-for-service for DHS for denying a large number of dental claims (see attached report – Acentra MN annual report 2025). Stay tuned for more on this topic as we continue our work to reduce the administrative burden for our member organizations.
Together, we are stronger!
Sheila Riggs
Chair, Board of Directors, CAD-MN
