republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2021/hb-1079.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Practice of dentistry; virtual claim payments."
description: "Amends the definition of dentistry. Provides that a dentist may order and administer an immunization that is recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for individuals who are not less than eleven years of age, if the dentist: (1) is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation; (2) has successfully completed a course of training in immunization that meets specified requirements; and (3) administers the immunization in accordance with a protocol that includes specified requirements and procedures. Prescribes reporting requirements for a dentist who administers an immunization. Provides that a dentist: (1) is not required to administer immunizations; and (2) is not required to complete immunization training if the dentist chooses not to administer immunizations. Provides that a health insurance plan, including a health management organization contract, may not require a dental provider to accept payment under the health insurance plan by virtual claim payment. Requires a health insurer, including a health maintenance organization, to do the following before providing payment to a dental provider by electronic funds transfer, including by virtual claim payment: (1) Notify the dental provider of fees associated with the electronic funds transfer. (2) Advise, concerning virtual claim payments, the dental provider of the methods of payment available under the health insurance plan and provide clear instructions to the dental provider as to how to select an alternate payment method."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1079"
citation: "Indiana HB 1079 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["DENTISTS AND DENTISTRY; DENTAL HYGIENISTS", "HEALTH", "Health Care Costs; Health Insurance", "TELECOMMUNICATIONS", "Telephone", "Television", "Radio", "and Internet"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dennis Zent", "Ed Charbonneau", "Liz Brown", "Ronald Grooms"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 23
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-04"
last_action: "2021-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/52e43ae2-c5f1-4006-83bb-eb8fd3c4140f"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1079"
source_hash: "5cc595b124e7d00c4ff73d0821c6b738702f68d3769ccbd67358f024b5dfa218"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana HB 1079 (2021) — Practice of dentistry; virtual claim payments.

Amends the definition of dentistry. Provides that a dentist may order and administer an immunization that is recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for individuals who are not less than eleven years of age, if the dentist: (1) is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation; (2) has successfully completed a course of training in immunization that meets specified requirements; and (3) administers the immunization in accordance with a protocol that includes specified requirements and procedures. Prescribes reporting requirements for a dentist who administers an immunization. Provides that a dentist: (1) is not required to administer immunizations; and (2) is not required to complete immunization training if the dentist chooses not to administer immunizations. Provides that a health insurance plan, including a health management organization contract, may not require a dental provider to accept payment under the health insurance plan by virtual claim payment. Requires a health insurer, including a health maintenance organization, to do the following before providing payment to a dental provider by electronic funds transfer, including by virtual claim payment: (1) Notify the dental provider of fees associated with the electronic funds transfer. (2) Advise, concerning virtual claim payments, the dental provider of the methods of payment available under the health insurance plan and provide clear instructions to the dental provider as to how to select an alternate payment method.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1079/versions/HB1079.04.ENRS)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1079/versions/HB1079.02.COMH)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1079/versions/HB1079.03.COMS)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1079/versions/HB1079.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1079 - Zent - 3rd Reading — **96–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dennis Zent — primary (person)
- Ed Charbonneau — primary (person)
- Liz Brown — primary (person)
- Ronald Grooms — primary (person)
- James Buck — cosponsor (person)
- Matt Lehman — coauthor (person)
- Steven Davisson — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-04** Authored by Representative Zent
- **2021-01-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-01** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-02** Representative Davisson added as coauthor
- **2021-02-02** Representative Lehman added as coauthor
- **2021-02-04** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-08** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 84: yeas 96, nays 2 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-08** Senate sponsors: Senators Charbonneau and Brown L
- **2021-02-09** Referred to the Senate
- **2021-02-23** First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-08** Senator Grooms added as third sponsor
- **2021-03-11** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-03-15** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-03-16** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 229: yeas 49, nays 0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-16** Senator Buck added as cosponsor
- **2021-03-17** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-03-22** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-03-25** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 304: yeas 87, nays 1 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-03-29** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-03-31** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-07** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-08** Public Law 31
- **2021-04-08** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/52e43ae2-c5f1-4006-83bb-eb8fd3c4140f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).