# New Hampshire prompt-pay law for dental claims

> What is the New Hampshire prompt-pay deadline for dental claims, and what interest applies to late payment? Read against the statute text (N.H. RSA 415:6-h; 415:18-k; 420-J:8-a).

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

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 N.H. RSA 415:6-h; 415:18-k; 420-J:8-a, the New Hampshire payment deadline is 15 calendar days (clean electronic claim) and 30 calendar days (clean non-electronic claim). An overdue claim carries "an interest payment of 1.5 percent per month beginning from the date the payment was due" under each of the three sections. Dental applicability: The two chapter-415 sections reach "any individual policy of accident or health insurance providing benefits for medical or hospital expenses" and the group equivalent — neither mentions dental, and whether a stand-alone dental policy provides benefits for medical or hospital expenses is an inference the statute does not make. 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: 15 calendar days (clean electronic claim)
- Paper claims: 30 calendar days (clean non-electronic claim)

Three parallel sections carry identical language: RSA 415:6-h for individual accident or health policies, RSA 415:18-k for group policies, and RSA 420-J:8-a for health carriers issuing health benefit plans. Each requires payment "for services rendered by New Hampshire health care providers within 30 calendar days upon receipt of a clean non-electronic claim or 15 calendar days upon receipt of a clean electronic claim." A denied or pended claim needs a notice within those same 15 or 30 days, and the insurer then has 45 calendar days to adjudicate after receiving the requested information; miss the notice and the claim becomes clean. Payment is the date the check is issued or the funds transferred, with checks mailed within five business days.

## Interest and penalties on late payment

An overdue claim carries "an interest payment of 1.5 percent per month beginning from the date the payment was due" under each of the three sections. The statute states a monthly rate only — an annual figure is arithmetic. Interest runs to the health care provider or the insured person, and attorney's fees are available only on a judicial finding of bad faith. Commissioner fines for a pattern of overdue payments are capped at $300,000 per calendar year examined.

## Does it apply to dental? Dental scope unsettled

The two chapter-415 sections reach "any individual policy of accident or health insurance providing benefits for medical or hospital expenses" and the group equivalent — neither mentions dental, and whether a stand-alone dental policy provides benefits for medical or hospital expenses is an inference the statute does not make. The safer route for a dental office is the managed-care chapter: RSA 420-J:2 applies chapter 420-J to all health carriers offering a managed care plan in the state, its "health care services" definition is broad ("diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure or relief of a health condition, illness, injury or disease"), and its health benefit plan definition contains no dental carve-out. Dental practices are covered as health care providers under that language; the stand-alone-dental-policy question stays open.

## 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

- No insurer is in violation for a claim submitted more than 90 days after the service was rendered — the deadlines effectively assume filing inside 90 days.
- The sections do not apply to capitation or periodic payments, and a missed deadline never creates coverage for a non-covered claim.
- Other exceptions: a court or agency directive, liquidation or rehabilitation, impossibility, a reported fraud investigation, and a pending internal or external review.
- Last amendments are 2009 for RSA 415:6-h and 420-J:8-a and 2010 for RSA 415:18-k — the 2014 amendment sometimes cited belongs to the adjacent formulary section.

## Sources (statute text)

- [N.H. RSA 420-J:8-a — prompt payment by health carriers](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/xxxvii/420-j/420-j-8-a.htm)
- [N.H. RSA ch. 415 (merged) — 415:6-h individual and 415:18-k group policies](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/xxxvii/415/415-mrg.htm)
- [N.H. RSA 420-J:2 — application of the managed care chapter](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/xxxvii/420-j/420-j-2.htm)
- [N.H. RSA 420-J:3 — definitions, including health care services](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/xxxvii/420-j/420-j-3.htm)

## 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)