October 16, 2023
The renewal process for 2024 is happening now. If your office is not currently participating and you would like to get quotes for your office, contact
Lisa Daniels or
Nolan Bald at North Risk Partners -
NEDA@northriskpartners.com - 402-592-7777.
The NDA Health Insurance Alliance Board will be convening to review BCBS renewal terms, plan documents and service provider documents.for 2024. NDA members currently on the Board:
Dr. Hoang-Oanh Le, Dr. Chris Foix, Dr. Steve Wirth, Dr. Liz Papineau and
Dr. Andrew Hibbert.
August 17, 2023
NDA offices participating in the health insurance plan were emailed the following:
Summary Annual Report (2022)
SAR Distribution - Electronic Notice 2022
BCBS renewal terms, plan documents and service provider documents.
March 1, 2023
The NDA Alliance Membership Agreement (2023) membership requirements have been modified as shown:
(iii) an active membership in good standing in The Nebraska Dental Association for at least fifty percent (50%) of the individuals (A) who hold a DDS, DMD, or equivalent degree, (B) who are eligible for membership in The Nebraska Dental Association, and (C) who have any ownership interest in the dental office.
(iv) To maintain an active membership in good standing in The Nebraska Dental Association for each individual holding a DDS, DMD, or equivalent degree who is eligible for membership in The Nebraska Dental Association and who is covered by the Plan;
October 11, 2022
NDA offices participating in the health insurance plan were emailed the following:
Distribution of Summary Annual Report:
Please review this email carefully, as it contains important information about your compliance obligations as an employer that participates in the Nebraska Dental Association Alliance Health Insurance Plan (the “Plan”). The following documents are attached:
- NDAHIA Summary Annual Report (2021); and
- SAR Distribution - Electronic Notice 2021.
You must distribute the Summary Annual Report to persons in the following categories who received benefits under the Plan during the 2021 calendar year: (a) employees, (b) COBRA qualified beneficiaries, and (c) non-employee custodial parents of an alternate recipient under a Qualified Medical Child Support Order. You must furnish the Summary Annual Report prior to December 15, 2022.
October 5, 2022
It's renewal time! BCBS will be sending renewal information to offices that are currently enrolled in the health insurane plan.
Offices that are interested in receiving a quote for health insurance through the Alliance can contact
Lisa Daniels or
Rachel Leidy at North Risk Partners -
NEDA@northriskpartners.com - 402-592-7777.
July 11, 2022
Offices that missed the July 2021 launch of health insurance and are interested in obtaining health insurance through the Alliance can contact
Lisa Daniels or
Nolan Bald at North Risk Partners -
NEDA@northriskpartners.com - 402-592-7777. NDA member offices participating in the Health Insurance Alliance must sign the
NDA Alliance Membership Agreement and pay the Assessment, which funds the Fiduciary Insurance required for the NDA HIA Board.
March 31, 2022
The NDA Health Insurance Alliance Board convened for the Annual Meeting via Zoom on Tuesday, March 29th. The Alliance Members returning their ballots for the 2022 Board voted for the five NDA member dentists below. The Board voted
Dr. Michael Hoover as President, Dr. Chris Foix as VP and Dr. Steve Wirth as Secretary/Treasurer. Drs. Heidi Stark and Adam Lamprecht comprise the remaining members of the Board. The Board will be scheduling a meeting this fall to review BCBS renewal terms, plan documents and service provider documents.
March 9, 2022
Notice of Annual Meeting - The Nebraska Dental Association Health Insurance Alliance Annual Meeting will be held
March 29, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom -
Contact the NDA to receive the Zoom link and password.
August 3, 2021
Any NDA offices that are looking to set up a pre-tax premium plan for their BCBSNE medical plan that was put in place through the NDAHIA 7/1/2021, can contact
Michelle L. Sitorius at Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P. - 402.479.7180.
Costs may vary depending on whether they choose a premium only plan, or include a Health FSA, or DCAP, or HSA.
July 19, 2021
NDA member offices participating in the Health Insurance Alliance must sign the NDA Alliance Membership Agreement and pay the Assessment, which funds the Fiduciary Insurance required for the NDA HIA Board.
June 30, 2021
It is official!! Today, offices received their Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE) health insurance policy numbers.
Offices that missed the July 1st launch of health insurance and are interested in obtaining health insurance through the Alliance can contact Lisa Daniels or Rachel Leidy at North Risk Partners - NEDA@northriskpartners.com - 402-592-7777
More information is available in the Zoom links below. 
June 8, 2021
Here is the link for last week’s Zoom call.
Passcode: 0Ys9wm^u
May 27, 2021
YOU DID IT! The NDA Health Insurance Alliance with BCBS is officially launched, surpassing the 250 "lives" mark!
We are happy to report that we have received more than enough interested groups to move on to the final phase with BCBS for a July 1st effective date. This morning, the final list of groups was sent in to BCBS so they can confirm and finalize all rates for all groups. The hope is to receive confirmation from them by 6/10 so we can send out the sold case documents needed. At that time you will choose plans and networks.
We will be holding a final phase Zoom call next week to discuss options in detail for anyone that is interested in learning more about what is being offered. Please join us for a Zoom meeting next Thursday June 3rd at 9:00 am to discuss the differences between the plan options and networks, as well as the timeline for the next steps.
If you are currently aware of any enrollment changes for your office, please let us know as soon as possible so we can update your information accordingly.
Meeting ID: 946 2739 6210
Passcode: 747392
May 17, 2021
BCBS released the rate quotes on May 14th to NDA offices that submitted health information. Lisa Daniels recorded a Zoom presentation to go over the NDA / BCBS Plans & Rates, rate tiers, deducibles and other information pertinent to your office's quote. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ZOOM PRESENTATION. Passcode: wtVb0J+K
May 3, 2021
BCBS will complete rating offices and issuing quotes on May 13th so we can start sending the rates out to the offices on the 14th. We will then need a strong push from all parties to get as many groups as possible to move forward.
Lisa is planning another Zoom on May 17th after having had time to review the rates and can provide some guidance on how they stack up in comparison to ACA / individual rates for similar plans. If we do this Monday the 17th, everyone will have their rates by then so specific questions can be asked around them.
Our final numbers only show 728 employees submitted information for electing coverage and we need better than 1 out of 3 to enroll to get to the 250 count to put coverage in place.
We will ask offices for a yes or no back from every group by May 28th. At that point if we get the 250, it will go back to BCBS to see if final rates need to change based on final enrollment or not. BCBS gets two more weeks at that point to let us know and then we roll out the rates again and complete paperwork for installation.
April 21, 2021
In order to keep the schedule of a July 1st start date, the health information requested in the email from North Risk Partners and BCBS must be submitted by this 5 p.m. this Friday, April 23rd
If you have questions, you can contact Brandon Ruser at North Risk Partners - (402) 592-7777 or NEDA@northriskpartners.com
Once the information is received, BCBS anticipates getting rate quotes to your offices by May 7th. Lisa Daniels will do another Webinar at that time to walk through the next steps.
March 20, 2021
The Zoom Powerpoint by Lisa Daniels with North Risk Partners on March 19th is linked here.
Beginning April 1st, dental offices will receive an email from NEDA@northriskpartners.com regarding what information will need to be submitted to BCBS. Offices with up to 14 eligible employees must submit an application utilizing the BCBS data hub. Offices with 15 or more eligible employees will submit a member level census in order to receive underwritten rates. All data hub applications or censuses must be returned by April 16th.
Any NDA member can certainly reach out to North Risk Partners if you have any further questions.
Lisa Daniels
Risk Advisor, Partner
Brandon Ruser
Account Manager - Employee Benefits
Shelly Hermsen
Account Manager - Employee Benefits
P: (402) 592-7777 | F: (402) 592-1924
March 15, 2021
Great news, we have achieved the number we needed of interested groups and enrollees to move forward with the underwriting process with BCBS. We consider this phase 2 of implementing the association plan.
Phase 2 can be a bit complicated as the process varies based on the number of employees each of you, as a dental office, have interested in enrolling for coverage. Since BCBS will establish both the association plan rate tiers and the group rates offered to each dental practice utilizing this step, it is very important the information submitted is as accurate as possible. Any changes to the enrollment count or dependent information submitted through this step, could result in the final rates given to you also being altered.
Please see an outline of the next steps below. Lisa Daniels with North Risk Partners will be hosting a virtual meeting on Friday the 19th at 10:00 am to walk through these steps and answer any questions you may have. This meeting will be recorded and emailed out as well.
Please join us for virtual meeting on Friday March 19th to discuss these steps and any questions you may have in further detail. The log in information for this meeting is below:
Join Zoom Meeting - https://zoom.us/j/96519631734
Meeting ID: 965 1963 1734
Passcode: 018601
North Risk Partners has established an email address to handle all communications relating to the Nebraska Dental Association plan. All emails will come from
NEDA@northriskpartners.com. Please make sure this email is marked as a safe sender on your end.
1. Each dental practice will need to submit the data on all eligible employees in order to receive underwritten rates. The process to do this varies based on the number of employees that need or will elect coverage through the Association plan.
A. Any dental practice with 1-14 employees that will elect coverage will need to submit enrollment forms utilizing the BCBS data hub. On 4/1 North Risk Partners will email each dental practice of this size a communication to send out to your employees including a link and instructions. All eligible employees (enrolling or waiving coverage) will need to click on the link, create a user name and password and walk through the application process. If enrolling for coverage they need to complete the data and health information on themselves and any dependents, if waiving they will indicate they are waiving coverage and if they are enrolled elsewhere.
B. Any dental practice with 15 or more employees enrolled can submit a group level census listing all eligible employees and all covered dependents (name, gender, date of birth, zip code, coverage election). On 4/1, North Risk partners will send an email to each practice with the required census to be completed. This information must be returned in the same format in order for BCBS to provide final rating.
2. All information will need to be completed online or census information for groups with over 15 enrolled to North Risk Partners by 4/15. North Risk Partners will provide periodic updates to each dental practice every 3 days on the status of your applications.
3. Once all information is submitted to BCBS – the goal will be to work with BCBS & the Association to establish all rate tiers, plans, underwriting guidelines by May 16.
4. Provide rates to all dental practices and determine their intent to move forward by June 1st. If the 250 final enrollment count is met, move forward with Association level paperwork.
5. June 1st – July 1st, complete all group level paperwork and final submission of enrollment information for a July 1st effective date.
The biggest challenge any dental office will have throughout this process is any enrollment data changes. Since BCBS will provide final rates based on how each employee / dependent elected coverage in step 1 above, if the enrollment information changes by +/- 10% for any group, BCBS reserves the right to rerate the group and the rating tier assigned may change. It is very important that employees do not choose to elect coverage to just “look and see” what the rates are if it is likely they will not enroll due to spousal coverage / parental coverage / Medicare etc... If this happens you will have many changes prior to final enrollment and your rates may change each time.
November 13, 2020
Here we are in a nutshell:
- BCBS and North Risk Partners are interested in helping the NDA launch an association health plan (AHP).
- Legitimate concerns remain – COVID and enough NDA members & staff participating.
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Minimum # of lives signing up for insurance – 250 (includes dentists, hygienists, assistants and office staff – DHPs)
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First Hurdle – completing a short survey (about 7 questions) from each office to determine how many DHPs are actually interested in obtaining health insurance and will fill out the health questionnaire in order to receive a quote. If we don’t obtain 1,500 interested DHPs, we are done – no need to go further. Why? Historically, only one in six “interested” actually purchase insurance.
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Office Survey will go out to NDA offices in January. It will be helpful to have several offices volunteer to be "cheerleaders" in their district, calling other offices and encouraging them to fill out the survey. If your office would like to be a cheerleader in your district, please contact David.
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Second Hurdle – If we obtain at least 1,500 interested DHPs, BCBS will set up a data hub for DHPs to complete a health questionnaire.Once the entire office of interested DHPs fill out the questionnaires, information will be sent to BCBS for rate quotes.
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The health questionnaires must be completed within a two-week period so that quotes can be returned to the group.
Final Hurdle –250 DHPs in the group receiving rate quotes must commit to sign up for insurance. If we have 250 committed DHPs signing up for insurance, we can launch the NDA Health Insurance group. If we don’t have 250, we are done with our attempt to launch an AHP.
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If we establish an AHP, the plans will go into effect June/July 2021.
Q?: Can you switch health plans mid-year?
A: Yes, although health insurance plans are renewed annually, they are actually month-to-month agreements.
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The AHP will have 4 to 5 plan options, with several “tiers” of rating based on the office DHP.
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The NDA has been following the efforts of Nebraska State Bar Association AHP, now entering its third year.This year, the NSBA AHP will have a 0% increase in their premiums.
On December 20, 2018, the first meeting of the
NDA Health Insurance Alliance, was held with Michelle Sitorius, attorney for the Alliance, NDA Executive Director David O'Doherty and Board members
Drs. Brad Krivohlavek, Chris Foix,
Shay McGowen, Sami Webb and Steve Wirth. The Board elected the following officers: Drs. Krivohlavek (President), Chris Foix (Vice President) and Steve Wirth (Secretary/Treasurer). Only NDA members who will be purchasing insurance through the Alliance are eligible to be Board members. The Board then approved filing a Form M-1 with the Department of Labor. In January, the Board will be reviewing plan designs with United Healthcare to be introduced to NDA offices later in January.
On November 16, 2018, members of the NDA Board of Trustees pictured below and Pat Bourne and Michaela Valentin, team leaders for Aon Risk Solutions interviewed representatives of United HealthCare and Aetna. Blue Cross & Blue Shield intially indicated a desire to particpate, but later declined. After an afternoon of interviews, the Board selected United Healthcare as the insurance carrier for the NDA Health Plan. Aon and UHC will meet to finalize a number of plan options for the Board to select - six options in total for NDA members and employees to choose from.
