The New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) had a spectacular 2026 legislative session with nine (9) priority bills passed, two (2) already signed into law, and three (3) State Budget items enacted.  A summary of these successes follows below.  You can see a chart of other bills NYSDA was dealing with here: Copy of NYSDA Bills 2026.

State Budget:

• PTET (Pass Through Entity Tax) – all changes defeated, credit remains at 100%.  This was a major lobbying effort with NYSDA leading a coalition of health professions, including the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY), to stop reductions to the 100% PTET credit.  In addition, grassroots lobbying efforts by NYSDA members were engaged to make the case to their individual legislators that reducing the PTET credit percentage would harm dental practices and many other small businesses.
• New York State Dental Foundation (NYSDF) special dentists’ license plates fund restored – Foundation funding of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) secured after suddenly having been stopped for years.
• Medicaid – no dental Medicaid reimbursement reductions for dentistry.

Bills Already Signed Into Law in 2026:  

• Virtual Credit Cards – takes effect June 17, 2026.  Insurers are no longer allowed to pay dentists by a virtual credit card system or other method that imposes a fee on the dentist unless the dentist expressly agrees to that form of payment – known as an “opt-in” law.
• Dental Hygiene Collaborative Practice Expansion – takes effect June 19, 2027.  A dentist must authorize collaboration with a dental hygienist in expanded settings like FQHCs, appropriately equipped schools, veterans’ facilities, domestic violence shelters, IDD group homes, prisons, temporary housing facilities, drug treatment facilities, homebound residents who cannot be relocated, and licensed voluntary foster care agency facilities.  The law also still includes Article 28 hospital facilities.  It remains to be seen how many dentists will want to participate in collaborative practice with dental hygienists in these new settings.

Other Bills Passed by Both Assembly and Senate:

• Dental loss ratio (DLR) bill [a reporting bill that requires insurers to provide data to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) so that DFS can determine what a logical DLR would be].  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.3919-B (Weprin) / S.6254-B (Skoufis).
• Noncovered services bill – insurers must provide consumers with notice that dentists may not choose to discount their fees for services the insurer does not cover.  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.3687-B (Weprin) / S.5313-A (Bailey).
• PGY-1 reform bill – the bill allows for dental residents in a multi-year residency program to obtain a dental license after completing one year of such program provided the resident also passes the clinical examination given by the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) or another clinical test approved by the New York State Education Department (NYSED).  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.10753-A (Paulin) / S.8401-B (Sepulveda).
• Codify Ciaramella Medicaid case bill – the bill codifies the result achieved in the New York court case Ciaramella v. McDonald that requires root canals, crowns, implants, and other related dental services to be covered by Medicaid.  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.1931 (Paulin) / S.3566 (Cleare).
• Block anesthesia for dental hygienists bill – the bill allows dental hygienists who are specially trained and certified in block anesthesia to deliver block anesthesia under the supervision of a dentist.  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.98 (Paulin) / S.5727 (Harckham).
• Cities Must Give Water Fluoridation Discontinuance Notice bill – the bill requires cities that wish to discontinue water fluoridation to give notice and follow the requirements of the New York State Public Health Law in giving such notice.  The bill was intended to address the situation that occurred in the City of Buffalo where water fluoridation was discontinued without any public notice.  The bill makes it clear that all cities are subject to giving notice and complying with the Public Health Law.  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.8680-A (Burke) / S.8283-A (Ryan).
• Vaping Products Tax Bill – the bill imposes a tax on manufacturers and distributors of vaping products.  The tax is 32 cents per milliliter on presealed vaping items or eight percent (8% ) of the wholesale price on other vaping items.  The bill must now go to the Governor for her action – A.4619-B (Solages) / S.4527-B (Comrie, Jr.).

Bills that Passed One House Only:

• Network leasing bill – the bill would allow dentists to choose the insurer plan networks they want to participate in.  The bill passed in the Assembly but got held in the Senate Insurance Committee because time ran out at the end of the legislative session for that committee to meet to release the bill – A.6650-A (Weprin) / S.7919-A (Skoufis).  This will be a major NYSDA priority in the 2027 legislative session.
• Monroe County dental pilot program bill – the bill would pay for the use of the SMARTeeth app for diagnostic services related to using the app.  The bill is designed as a demonstration program for Monroe County where the app has been in use.  The bill passed in the Senate but was held in the Assembly Health Committee mainly because it has a financial aspect that is often hard to advance outside of the State Budget process.  The bill is A.3071-A (Lunsford) / S.3243-A (Cooney).
• Sales Tax Exemption for oral hygiene products bill – the bill would exempt oral hygiene products like toothbrushes, dental floss, and toothpaste from sales tax.  The bill passed in the Senate but was held in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee mainly because sales tax exemptions are extremely difficult to pass over objections of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (DOTAF).  The bill is A.2444-A (Woerner) / S.985-A (Brouk).
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination bill – the bill would allow dentists to give HPV vaccinations.  The bill passed in the Senate but was held in the Assembly Higher Education Committee mainly because the Legislature dislikes bills related to vaccinations and had already passed a different vaccination bill in 2026, thereby limiting enthusiasm for doing any other such bills.  The bill is A.3892 (Weprin) / S.4548 (Stavisky).
  

Bills not Passed in Either House:

• Emergency vaccination bill – The bill would allow dentists to give vaccinations in emergency health situations like COVID or influenza.  The bill has the same sponsors as the HPV vaccination bill and the sponsors thought the bills competed with each other.  They decided to prioritize the HPV vaccination bill because it had less opposition from medicine and more of a connection to dental health because of HPV being a cause of oral cancers.  Both versions of the bill were held in the Assembly and Senate Higher Education Committees.  The bill is A.3894-A (Weprin) / S.6744-A (Stavisky).
• Assignment of benefits bill – the bill would allow patients to assign payment of their dental benefits directly to a dentist.  The bill was only introduced in the Assembly and needs to be amended to add dental insurance because the current version only covers medical insurance.  The bill was held in the Assembly Insurance Committee.  The bill is A.9281 (Solages).  Senator Cooney has indicated he will sponsor the bill in the Senate, but he is waiting for Assemblywoman Solages to amend her bill first to include dental insurance.
• Bruxism insurance bill – the bill would require insurance coverage for bruxism.  The bill was held in the Assembly and Senate Insurance Committees mainly because both bills were introduced too late in the session to make their way through the committee review process.  The bill is A.11517 (Lavine) / S.10606 (Addabbo).
• Endodontic services insurance bill – the bill would require insurance coverage for endodontic services.  Like the bruxism insurance coverage bill, the bill was held in the Assembly and Senate Insurance Committees mainly because both bills were introduced too late in the session to make their way through the committee review process.  The bill is A.11520 (Lavine) / S.10607 (Addabbo).
• Foreign Trained Dentists bill – the bill would create an expedited path for licensure for foreign-trained dentist.  The bill got held in both the Assembly and Senate Higher Education Committees.  The bills are not the same any longer and Senator Stavisky placed a hold on the bill until she could review it more closely, including speaking to NYSED about the bill.  A bill can only be enacted into law if the same version is passed in both the Assembly and the Senate.  That became impossible when Assemblywoman Woerner amended her bill to be a third “C” version.  The Assembly bill is A.3244-C (Woerner).  The Senate bill is S.3966-A (Stavisky).

Regulations:

• New York State Department of Health ionizing radiation regulations – this total repeal and replacement of the ionizing radiation regulations contained in Part 16 of Title 10 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York is still pending.  NYSDA filed written comments against the expensive accreditation idea for dental CBCT (cone beam) radiation installations.  NYSDA subsequently met with the New York State Department of Health to further argue its case against the accreditation aspect of the proposed regulations.  The Department of Health must act on the proposed regulations by October 8, which is the one year expiration date.  If no action is taken by then, the process will have to start anew.

NYSDAPAC 2026 – The cash balance for NYSDA’s political action committee (NYSDAPAC) is as follows thus far in calendar year 2026:

Start:  $572,000          Spent:  $343,000        On hand:  $229,000