The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) recently sent an email to all licensees about “Important New Laws Affect Your Profession” that has caused substantial confusion, worry and questions from dentists. The CDA would like to provide clarification on two noted bills and corresponding changes to Colorado law. SB26-138: Reducing Administrative Burdens on Health Care What you need to know: …
Rulemaking Underway for the Dental Practice Act: Some Rules Effective June 30
In 2025, the CDA successfully passed the Dental Practice Act Sunset bill (SB25-194) reflecting priorities and policies that support our member dentists. While a huge victory, that was only half of the process — now the Colorado Dental Board is required to adopt rules to implement the bill. Over the last year, the Colorado Dental Board has held stakeholder meetings …
July 1 Changes to State Funded Dental Programs
Despite the dire state of the 2026 Colorado government budget, where the Joint Budget Committee(JBC) of the legislature was forced to cut upwards of $1.5 billion in state spending, the CDA was able to advocate for access to oral healthcare and has prevented more severe targeted cuts that could have jeopardized the viability of state-funded dental programs. Recap of Past …
2026 Colorado Legislative Session Ends – How Did Dentists Fare?
The CDA had a very successful 2026 state legislative session, thanks to the dedication and direct advocacy of CDA members and the work of CDA staff and contract lobbyists. This year, the CDA achieved passage of dental insurance reform in House Bill 1070, which addresses the practice of network leasing (also known as “umbrella plans”) by insurance carriers. With the …
Oral Screening Bill for Elementary Students Awaits Governor’s Signature
Senate Bill 142 (SB 142) was overwhelmingly approved by the legislature in the final days of the 2024 Colorado legislative session. It is waiting for the governor’s signature to become law. The CDA created this legislation as an initial step in a broader plan to incorporate dental screenings in schools as a “norm” in Colorado—much like they are already for …
Access to Care/Workforce Expansion: Dentist/Hygienist Compact Signed by Governor
With Gov. Polis signing SB24-10 late May 17, Colorado became the eighth state to join the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact (leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-010). The CDA strongly supported this legislation that seeks to provide licensees with opportunities to practice in other participating states, which increases mobility for individuals who are relocating, improves public safety and promotes workforce development by reducing unnecessary licensure …
Legislation to Counter Harmful Ballot Measures Awaits Governor’s Signature
The Problem The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association introduced a series of ballot initiatives earlier this year that would completely eliminate the cap on non-economic damages, essentially meaning that if a healthcare provider (including a dentist) were to get sued by a patient, there would be no limit on how much could be collected in a successful judgement for things like …
Gov. Polis Signs State Budget: CDA Secures Substantial Medicaid Rate Hike for 28 Dental Codes
Gov. Polis signed the fiscal year 2024/2025 state budget, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024. Among several important budget inclusions was over $78 million dedicated to meaningful reimbursement rate increases for Medicaid dental providers. This increase resulted from 18 months of work by the CDA Medicaid Task Force initially chaired by Dr. Carol Morrow in 2022/2023 and …
More Key Issues
The tool below will display “Take Action” alerts whenever key issues arise for the dental profession at the local, state or federal levels. If an alert is listed, please take 5 minutes now and send a message to your legislator on these issues. Be sure to customize your letter to make it more effective! If no alerts are currently displayed, …
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