Attorney Ken Robinson, Northeast Delta Dental's General Counsel, and I communicate with DDPA regularly.  We're monitoring the implementation of the critical federal regulations on the details of the law, including the required pediatric dental benefits portions of the essential benefits mandated by the law.  Most of the federal health care reform action will now take place with the agencies, primarily Health and Human Services, writing the detailed regulations.  We're also keeping abreast of the ongoing legal and political challenges, which include several pending lawsuits and the 2012 presidential election nationally and legislative activity addressing new health care reform requirements in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Tom Raffio, FLMI
President & CEO