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S. 1424 118th Congress Senate

DOC Access Act of 2023

Official title: A bill to amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to improve health care coverage under vision and dental plans, and for other purposes.

Introduced: July 29, 2024 See on congress.gov
Health Civil actions and liabilityDental careEmployee benefits and pensionsHealth care costs and insurance
More subjectsShow fewer subjects
Health care coverage and accessHearing, speech, and vision careState and local government operations
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This bill died when the 118th Congress ended
It never became law before the 118th Congress (2023–2024) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 3, 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
May 3, 2023
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action May 3, 2023

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Dentist and Optometric Care Access Act of 2023 or the DOC Access Act of 2023

This bill prohibits private health insurance plans from setting rates for items and services, except for dental cleanings, provided by a doctor of optometry, of dental surgery, or of dental medicine for which the plan does not pay a substantial amount.

Additionally, an agreement between a plan and such a doctor for limited scope dental or vision benefits may last longer than two years only with the prior acceptance of the doctor for each term extension. Plans also may not restrict such a doctor's choice of laboratories or suppliers.

Such doctors may elect to waive the application of the payment amount and choice of laboratories provisions of this bill.

The bill does not supersede state laws regarding health insurers and dental or vision benefit plans.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 1385 Identical bill DOC Access Act of 2023
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 8

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

  • RED+BLUE STRATEGIES
    for THE GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
  • DELTA DENTAL PLANS ASSOCIATION
    for DELTA DENTAL PLANS ASSOCIATION · District of Columbia · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
  • RED+BLUE STRATEGIES
    for THE GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA · District of Columbia · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
  • RED+BLUE STRATEGIES
    for THE GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)
  • DELTA DENTAL PLANS ASSOCIATION
    for DELTA DENTAL PLANS ASSOCIATION · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)
  • DELTA DENTAL PLANS ASSOCIATION
    for DELTA DENTAL PLANS ASSOCIATION · District of Columbia · 4th Quarter 2025 (Oct 1 - Dec 31)

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

See all 8 filings →
 Cosponsors 11
All 11 Democratic 6 Republican 5
D
Gillibrand, Kirsten E.
New York · Aug 1, 2024
 D
Kaine, Tim
Virginia · Jul 30, 2024
 D
Coons, Christopher A.
Delaware · Jul 29, 2024
 D
Merkley, Jeff
Oregon · Jun 12, 2024
 R
Tillis, Thomas
North Carolina · Jun 12, 2024
 D
Welch, Peter
Vermont · Apr 23, 2024
 D
Cantwell, Maria
Washington · Apr 10, 2024
 R
Hoeven, John
North Dakota · Jul 20, 2023
 R
Boozman, John
Arkansas · Jun 21, 2023
 R
Capito, Shelley Moore
West Virginia · Jun 20, 2023
 R
Cramer, Kevin
North Dakota · May 3, 2023
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1424: DOC Access Act of 2023. 118th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/118-S-1424/
MLA
"S. 1424: DOC Access Act of 2023." 118th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/118-S-1424/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1424, 118th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/118-S-1424/.
Markdown link
[S. 1424: DOC Access Act of 2023](https://openamerica.io/bill/118-S-1424/)
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