The ADA Council on Dental Benefits Programs is seeking comments from members on dental loss ratios to develop recommendations for changes.
The American Dental Association’s (ADA) Council on Dental Benefit Programs is accepting comments from membership on a policy on medical (dental) loss ratios until April 15.
A dental loss ratio requires dental insurance companies to pay a percentage of premiums collected on actual patient care. The council will review the current policy, first adopted by the ADA House of Delegates in 2015 and amended in 2019 and assess member feedback when developing recommendations for modification of the policy.
“It is critical that the council hears from the collective ADA membership,” said Sara Steufen, DDS, chair of the council’s Dental Benefit Information Subcommittee. “We want to ensure we are equipped with feedback from our peers as we reevaluate this policy. Please take the time to submit a comment.”
The council will consider all comments that are focused on the MLR policy. Any comments submitted that do not directly address the policy will be excluded from consideration. The volume of similar comments will not impact final discussions, and bulk comments or spam will not be accepted. All submissions will be deidentified unless one specifies otherwise, and comments will be limited to 300 words.
The current ADA policy on medical (dental) loss ratio, comment submission form and registration information is available at ADA.org/MLRcomment.
Following the comment period, the Council on Dental Benefit Programs will work with the Council on Government Affairs to develop a policy proposal to present to the House of Delegates for consideration in October.
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This is detrimental to the patient and dentist. Delta Dental spent 177 million on patient care and donated 291 million to the Catalyst Institute in 2019. This legislation from the ADA and NADP creates a loophole for insurance companies to exclude non-profit donations into the 80-85% dental loss ratio – where they spend a majority of their money already. They will continue to take money from providers and patients.