ADA Challenges Delta Dental Cheque Payment Fee Policy

The American Dental Association (ADA) has called on US insurance regulators to scrutinise a new Delta Dental of California policy under which, from 1 January 2027, contracted dentists may be charged $15 per week to receive claim reimbursements by cheque rather than by electronic funds transfer. Announced on 24 July 2026, the ADA argues providers should be able to choose how they are paid without forfeiting part of their reimbursement.

Delta Dental is a nationwide network of independent dental insurance companies with a preferred provider organisation network of more than 112,000 dentists. The policy concerns the Delta Dental of California enterprise, whose affiliated companies serve 15 US states plus Washington DC. For a practice charged the fee every week, the additional cost would amount to $780 per year, with combined charges potentially running into millions of dollars. Delta Dental of California has not disclosed how many practices will retain cheque payments or whether the fee will be assessed per clinician, practice, location or payment account.

In a letter sent on 8 July to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the ADA asked regulators to oppose payment policies that restrict provider choice, and encouraged individual state regulators to assess whether the fee complies with insurance legislation. The ADA argues that additional administrative expenses fall disproportionately on dental practices operating as small businesses, and that insurers should not transfer the cost of modernising their payment systems to providers. Dr Shelley Olson, chair of the ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs, said imposing fees on cheque payments increases the cost of care for practices.

The commercial signal is a growing tension between dental insurance modernisation and provider economics, with regulatory intervention now on the table. Payment mechanism fees may become the next battleground in provider-insurer negotiations. Expect practice management platforms including Henry Schein One, Dentrix and Curve Dental to accelerate EFT integration features, and DSOs to leverage payment scale advantages over solo practices.

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