Do Not Attend or Submit Proxy: DDWA Annual Meeting
Again this year, WSDA is calling on dentists to stand united and send Delta Dental of Washington (DDWA) a clear message: Change your anticompetitive out-of-network reimbursement policy. DDWA continues to defend a policy that penalizes patients and dentists. Business as usual is unacceptable.
Until DDWA changes its policy, we urge dentists to:
- Not attend DDWA’s upcoming annual member meeting.
- Not submit your proxy. When it arrives by email or mail, simply ignore it, even (and especially) if DDWA sends repeated reminders.
Remember: DDWA member dentists are not required to participate in governance activities. If you are contacted and made to feel you must attend or submit your proxy, know that this is false. Continue to simply ignore the messages.
Why does this matter? DDWA needs a quorum to elect or re-elect member directors to its board. By withholding participation, member dentists will send a strong and visible message that they will no longer tolerate the company’s anticompetitive approach to out-of-network benefit reimbursements. This effort will not prevent DDWA from conducting business, exercising its fiduciary duties, or processing patient reimbursement payments.
The WSDA Board sent the DDWA member director candidates a series of questions this year to determine if their positions on important issues have changed. This year’s candidates are standing behind DDWA’s status quo that is harmful to both patients and dental offices. As a result, we cannot support their candidacies. This is not a personal attack against any individual; we are stronger if we stand against member director candidates until they stand with us to end DDWA’s punitive out-of-network reimbursement policy.
Please encourage your colleagues to join this effort by not attending and not submitting their proxy for DDWA’s upcoming annual member meeting. Questions? Contact WSDA at dentalbenefits@wsda.org.
Thank you for standing with WSDA in support of a fairer dental benefits market. And thank you for all you do to serve your patients, support organized dentistry, and improve oral health in Washington state.
WSDA is continuing our comprehensive and aggressive campaign to reform the dental benefits market in Washington state. We will share more about this important work in the weeks ahead.
Dr. Brittany Dean
WSDA President
