Wednesday, March 28, 2012

10 Million Americans Lost Employer Sponsored Dental Benefits in 2010


I know we have an awful lot of Anglophiles living in the U.S., but this is ridiculous. Here is the San Francisco Chronicle with the details:
Employer sponsored dental benefit enrollment declined by 5.7% in 2010, according to the National Association of Dental Plans. It's the first drop in dental enrollment since 1994, the year NADP began tracking enrollment. The Value Dental Plan, which hopes to capitalize on the decline in employer sponsored dental insurance, is not traditional insurance but rather a program providing significant discounts to its members with over 50,000 participating dentists across the US.

The "2010 Dental Benefits Enrollment Report," issued by NADP and Delta Dental Plans Association, revealed that only 166 million Americans (54%) were covered by some form of dental benefit through group or individual plans in 2009.

The 5.7% dip reflects about 10 million fewer Americans with dental coverage, compared to 2008 figures. Still, enrollment from 2006 through 2008 increased in line with U.S. population growth, remaining steady at 57%, according to the research.

"While total enrollment significantly declined in 2010, the number of employer groups offering dental benefits remained consistent, compared to the previous year. Based on data submitted for the report and other industry studies by LIMRA and NADP," says Evelyn F. Ireland, executive director of NADP. The recession and a stalled economy contributed, in part, to decreased enrollment. "The reduction in subscribers in some employer groups in 2010 most likely reflects family financial constraints and layoffs.
Dental insurance for many has never been all that great. My own health care plan, which is quite good otherwise, only covers a very small percentage of my dental care. On the flip side, there doesn't seem to have been nearly the explosion in dental costs like there has been for other areas of health care. I had a crown put in last year that probably only cost about 20% more than one I had put in 15 years ago. There's a lesson there somewhere.


Bonus "Dental plan....Lisa needs braces...dental plan...Lisa needs braces"--The remix

11 comments:

  1. What were Ayn Rand's teeth like? She doesn't appear to smile in most of her photos.

    If the free market likes bad teeth, well, who are we to argue?

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    1. (Economist/preacher in reverent tone) All Hail the Glorious Market. Through It's divine Providence and the word of It's glorious Prophets; Rand, Friedman, Hayek, and Koch, we will reach the fabled land of Prosperityyyyy.
      May you receive a generous return on investment.

      (Congregation in unison) And may your investment be returned generously!

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    2. Maybe Atlas Shrugged cuz he had a really bad toothache?

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  2. Dental costs don't explode like other medical costs since most people don't have dental insurance. Simple as that.

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  3. I think that's more like simplistic. Medical costs involve a few more body parts than teeth and gums, and also a number of life-threatening conditions which is rarely the case for dental problems.

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  4. speak for yourself about dental costs not exploding

    here a crown is now over $900
    throw in a root canal and you can easily spend $1500 to save ONE tooth

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    1. $900 is about what I paid for a crown 15 years ago. In the meantime, my health insurance costs for physician coverage has more than quadrupled. My point stands.

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  5. interesting
    15 years ago I was paying less than $200 for a crown

    a visit to a doctor had a $15 copay
    now its $35

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    1. For me, the co-pay is still $20, but it cost the insurance company nearly $600 the last time I had a simple blood test. Now THAT is inflation.

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  6. What I don't get is the artificial distinction between dentistry and the rest of medicine, as if your teeth and gums were disconnected from the rest of your organism by some sort of impermeable barrier put in place by the insurance industry.

    This point was driven home a few years ago when a friend's college-age son--who didn't have any insurance, dental or otherwise--endured an untreated tootache. When the decay in the tooth finally crossed that mysterious mouth-body barrier and became systemic, he fought life-threatening septicemia for three weeks at a cost of over $100,000 in hospital bills. All because he couldn't afford the initial visit to the dentist...

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    1. That never made any sense to me, either. I've also heard of similar cases to your friend's son. Sad.

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