The American Dental Association is asking Congress to rewrite parts of the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act so that dental price transparency actually helps patients. In a letter dated July 1, 2026, the ADA argued that a posted list of a dentist's fees tells a family very little about what they will really pay, because dental insurers, not dental offices, control deductibles, annual maximums and coverage limits. Instead, the ADA wants the price information to come from the insurance plan, in real time, and tied to standard dental procedure codes.
For parents trying to budget a child's checkup, sealants or braces, the fight is less about a single dollar figure and more about who has to hand you an honest estimate before treatment begins. Below is what the bill does, what the ADA is proposing to change, and what a clearer dental price could look like at your family's next visit.
What are the key facts?
- The bill: The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act was introduced in the House as H.R. 5582 on September 26, 2025 by Rep. John James of Michigan, with a Senate companion, S. 2355, and a bipartisan group of about 12 additional House cosponsors (Source: Congress.gov and legislative tracking, 2025 to 2026).
- The ADA request: On July 1, 2026, ADA President Richard Rosato, D.M.D., and Executive Director Nader Nadershahi, D.D.S., sent Congress a letter seeking three dental-specific changes to the bill (Source: ADA News, July 2026).
- The earlier push: The ADA first raised the issue in a June 9, 2026 letter to House Energy and Commerce leaders ahead of a Subcommittee on Health hearing titled "Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: Examining Policies to Increase Health Care Transparency" (Source: ADA News, June 2026).
What is the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act?
It is a federal bill meant to force clearer upfront pricing across health care so patients can see what a service costs before they agree to it. The measure, H.R. 5582 in the House and S. 2355 in the Senate, was introduced in the 119th Congress and referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce along with the Ways and Means and Education and Workforce committees, according to Congress.gov. Its broad goal is price transparency for medical services, including imaging, so that "price tags" are available before care rather than surprise bills after.
Dentistry, however, does not work the way a hospital imaging center does. A dental practice can post a fee for a filling, but the amount a family owes depends on their specific plan, and that is the gap the ADA says the bill needs to close.
What dental-specific changes is the ADA asking for?
The ADA asked for three targeted revisions so the rules fit how dental care is actually paid for. According to ADA News, the association wants the bill to require patient-specific benefit and payment information, to exclude routine dental imaging from the medical imaging transparency provisions, and to set dental-specific standards for explanations of benefits built on the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature, known as CDT codes, rather than proprietary payer codes.
| Issue | What a general price rule would do | What the ADA proposes for dentistry |
|---|---|---|
| Who provides the price | The dental office posts its fee schedule | The dental plan provides patient-specific benefit and payment data |
| Imaging | Routine dental X-rays swept in with medical imaging rules | Routine dental imaging excluded from those provisions |
| Explanation of benefits | Proprietary payer codes families cannot easily read | Standardized explanations tied to CDT dental procedure codes |
The through line is simple: a number is only useful if it reflects your coverage. A practice such as Highlands Family Dentistry in Dallas can quote a fee, but only your plan knows your remaining annual maximum and whether a service is covered this year, which is why the ADA wants the estimate to originate with the payer.
Why does the ADA say insurers, not dentists, hold the real price?
Because the plan controls the variables that decide your out-of-pocket cost. The ADA told Congress that dental benefit plans, rather than dental practices, control benefit design, deductibles, annual maximums, frequency limitations and adjudication rules. Publishing a dentist's full fee schedule without that plan data, the ADA argued, "would not provide patients with a meaningful estimate of their actual out-of-pocket costs."
"For dental care, transparency is most effective when it is payer-facing, patient-specific, available in real time, and tied to the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature," ADA President Richard Rosato, D.M.D., and Executive Director Nader Nadershahi, D.D.S., wrote in the association's letter to Congress.
This is the same core theme running through several recent ADA insurance fights, including its objection to insurers charging dentists to receive reimbursement by paper check. Readers following that thread can see our earlier coverage of Delta Dental's 15 dollar paper check fee, another case where the ADA pressed payers rather than practices.
What could this mean for families budgeting children's dental care?
If Congress adopts the ADA's approach, the estimate you receive before a child's treatment would come from your plan and reflect your real coverage, not a generic office price. For a family weighing sealants, a filling or an orthodontic consult, that would mean seeing the covered amount, the deductible still owed and any frequency limits before saying yes, rather than waiting for an explanation of benefits weeks later.
Until the law changes, the practical move is unchanged: ask for a written pre-treatment estimate. Pediatric offices such as Hurst Pediatric Dentistry in Texas can submit a proposed treatment plan to your insurer for a predetermination of benefits, which is the closest thing today to the real-time, plan-based price the ADA is asking Congress to require. Bring your insurance card, ask what your annual maximum and deductible look like for the year, and request the estimate in writing.
What happens next with the bill?
The legislation remains in committee. H.R. 5582 was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and additional committees after its September 2025 introduction, and no final vote had been scheduled as of July 2026, according to Congress.gov. The ADA's July letter is an advocacy step aimed at shaping the text before any markup, so families will not see changes at the dental office from this bill in the immediate term. The takeaway for now is that dental price transparency is squarely on the federal agenda, and organized dentistry is arguing that the responsibility should sit with insurers.
Frequently asked questions
Does this bill lower my dental bill?
Not directly. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act is about disclosing prices before care, not capping them. The ADA's goal is to make the disclosed dental estimate accurate to your plan so you can make an informed decision, but the bill itself does not set fees.
Would I have to look up my dentist's fees myself?
Under the ADA's proposal, no. The association wants the patient-specific estimate to come from your dental plan in real time, tied to standard CDT procedure codes, rather than requiring you to interpret a posted office fee list on your own.
How can I get an accurate price for my child's treatment today?
Ask your dentist for a predetermination of benefits, sometimes called a pretreatment estimate. The office submits the planned procedures to your insurer, which returns what it will cover, so you learn your likely out-of-pocket cost before treatment starts.
What are CDT codes?
CDT stands for the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature, the standardized set of codes used to describe dental procedures on claims. The ADA maintains these codes and wants price and benefit disclosures built on them so estimates are consistent across plans.
Updated July 2026.
