Research: Americans have more choices for dental benefits in 2015

By | March 23, 2015

dental benefits 2015The ADA News reports that a new research brief from the ADA Health Policy Institute found that the dental benefits market in 2015 provides more choices for Americans, and increased transparency by the federal government makes it easier to navigate the system.

But even with more choices, the cost of purchasing dental insurance may be too high for consumers.

The Affordable Care Act extended health insurance to millions of Americans in 2014. About 6.7 million Americans gained health insurance and 1.1 million gained stand-alone dental benefits through the health insurance marketplaces in 2014. Individuals had until Feb. 15 to meet the law’s individual mandate requirement to enroll in a health plan, facing tax penalties if they failed to do so.

More medical plans in more states include embedded dental benefits and there are more family stand-alone dental plans available than last year, according to “More Dental Benefits Options in 2015 Health Insurance Marketplaces,” by Cassandra Yarbrough, health policy researcher, Marko Vujicic, Ph.D., chief economist and vice president of HPI, and Kamyar Nasseh, Ph.D., HPI economist. In an analysis of 40 states, 35.7 percent of medical plans offered through the marketplaces have embedded pediatric or family dental benefits, an increase over 2014 when 26.8 percent of medical plans had embedded pediatric or family dental benefits.

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