# Mississippi prompt-pay law for dental claims

> What is the Mississippi prompt-pay deadline for dental claims, and what interest applies to late payment? Read against the statute text (Miss. Code Ann. §83-9-5(1)(h)).

URL: https://dentovio.com/dental-prompt-pay-laws/mississippi

Last verified: 2026-08-30

Dentovio is an independent publisher, not a law firm, insurance department, or government agency. This page was drafted with AI assistance and read against the primary sources linked here, with a per-claim verification record — quote, statutory pinpoint, and the URL actually opened — behind every deadline, rate, and applicability verdict in all fifty-one jurisdictions. It has not been reviewed by a credentialed attorney or dental billing specialist. These pages summarize state prompt-pay statutes as read against the official sources on the date shown, focusing on how each statute treats dental claims. Statutes change and their application turns on plan type, contract status, and claim facts. Educational reference only — not legal advice; confirm current law with the state insurance department or a licensed attorney before acting on a specific claim.

## Direct answer

Under Miss. Code Ann. §83-9-5(1)(h), the Mississippi payment deadline is 25 days (electronic clean claim) and 35 days (paper clean claim). Where payment is late, "the insurer must pay the provider … or the insured … interest on accrued benefits at the rate of three percent (3%) per month accruing from the day after payment was due on the amount of the benefits that remain unpaid until the claim is finally settled or adjudicated" (§83-9-5(1)(h)3). Dental applicability: Mississippi's prompt-pay requirements sit inside the accident and sickness policy chapter and never name dental. A self-funded private-employer (ERISA) plan is generally beyond this statute's reach and runs on the federal claims-procedure clock instead — but that comes from the courts reading 29 U.S.C. § 1144, not from its text, and it is not categorical: a self-funded governmental or church plan is not an ERISA plan at all, § 1144(b)(6) leaves multiple employer welfare arrangements open to state insurance law, and nothing in § 1144 bars a state from reaching the third-party administrator or the network contract.

## Payment deadlines

- Electronic claims: 25 days (electronic clean claim)
- Paper claims: 35 days (paper clean claim)

Claims must be paid within 25 days after receipt of due written proof of loss in the form of a clean claim submitted electronically, and within 35 days where the clean claim was submitted on paper. A claim resubmitted with the requested documentation must be paid within 20 days of receipt. A claim submitted more than 30 days after the date the service was completed is not a clean claim at all, so the deadline never starts. Insurer-provider written agreements may substitute timelines that "differ from, but are at least as stringent as" the statute.

## Interest and penalties on late payment

Where payment is late, "the insurer must pay the provider … or the insured … interest on accrued benefits at the rate of three percent (3%) per month accruing from the day after payment was due on the amount of the benefits that remain unpaid until the claim is finally settled or adjudicated" (§83-9-5(1)(h)3). Claims owed under Medicare Advantage or Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans are excluded from that provision. Beyond interest, the person entitled to benefits may sue to recover the benefits and interest, and where the insurer acted in bad faith "as evidenced by a repeated or deliberate pattern of failing to pay benefits and/or claims when due," damages of up to three times the unpaid benefits are available. The commissioner can add tiered administrative fines up to $200,000 based on the share of clean claims paid on time.

## Does it apply to dental? Dental scope unsettled

Mississippi's prompt-pay requirements sit inside the accident and sickness policy chapter and never name dental. The quote that circulates for dental coverage — "any group hospital, health or medical expense insurance policy … health and accident insurance policy" — is from §83-9-49, the preexisting-condition statute, not from §83-9-5. The Insurance Department requires filed accident and health policies to contain the entirety of the revised §83-9-5(1)(h), which is how the requirements reach the policies in the chapter, but whether a stand-alone dental policy is inside is not resolved by any source read here. One related trap: the direct-payment and no-balance-billing clause at §83-9-5(1)(i) names providers rendering "hospital, nursing, medical or surgical services" — dental services are not in that list, so do not assert it for dental claims.

## Self-funded (ERISA) plans

A self-funded private-employer (ERISA) dental plan is generally beyond a state prompt-pay statute's reach: 29 U.S.C. § 1144(b)(2)(B) bars a state from deeming such a plan an insurer, and the courts have read that to keep state insurance regulation off it. The statute itself never uses the words self-funded or prompt pay, and the rule is not categorical — a self-funded governmental or church plan is not an ERISA plan at all, so state law can reach it; § 1144(b)(6) leaves multiple employer welfare arrangements open to state insurance law; and nothing in § 1144 addresses state enforcement against the third-party administrator or the network contract. Where the plan is a self-funded ERISA group health plan, the federal claims-procedure deadlines apply instead: a post-service benefit determination within 30 days (one 15-day extension), at least 180 days to appeal, and an appeal decision within 60 days (or two 30-day levels), under 29 CFR 2560.503-1.

## Also in the statute

- A resubmitted claim with the requested documentation must be paid within 20 days of receipt (§83-9-5(1)(h)1).
- A claim submitted more than 30 days after the service was completed is not a clean claim (§83-9-5(1)(h)1.d).
- Provider contracts may set different timelines only if they are at least as stringent as the statute; if the agreement is silent on interest, the statutory 3% per month applies (§83-9-5(8)(d)).
- Last amended by HB 1079 (Laws 2024, ch. 359), effective on passage April 17, 2024.

## Sources (statute text)

- [Miss. Code Ann. §83-9-5 as amended by HB 1079 (2024) — Mississippi Legislature enrolled bill (the legislature's host may trigger a browser certificate warning)](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2024/html/HB/1000-1099/HB1079SG.htm)
- [Mississippi Insurance Department — submission requirements for accident and health policies](https://www.mid.ms.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/accidentandhealthsubmissionrequirements.pdf)

## Related

- [All state prompt-pay pages](https://dentovio.com/dental-prompt-pay-laws/index.html.md)
- [Dental claim denial codes](https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-denial-codes/index.html.md)
- [Payer documentation requirements](https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-documentation/index.html.md)