ADA Surveys Consumers re Dental & ACA

The American Dental Association's (ADA) Health Policy Institute (HPI) recently published findings from an April 2014 survey of consumers regarding experiences in the marketplaces related to dental insurance. The results and "key messages" may be of interest (page 1):

·        When asked about preferences for medical and dental plans, the majority of adults indicate they prefer a dental plan that costs less and has limited provider choice. In contrast, for medical plans, the majority of adults indicate they prefer a plan that costs more and has a broader choice of providers.

·        Young adults and low-income adults have the strongest preference for less costly dental plans that have a more limited choice of providers.

·        Among those who shopped for dental insurance in the health insurance marketplaces, key reasons for not purchasing a plan include plans being too expensive, inability to find plans that cover services of interest, and the lack of a requirement to purchase dental insurance.

Another recently published Research Brief analyzed the take-up rate of dental benefits in the marketplaces by specific age groups-finding in part that adults ages 26-34 are the most likely group to purchase dental benefits on the marketplaces.

During his keynote lunch at CONVERGE last week, Dr. Marko Vujicic noted that the Institute intends to publish more Research Briefs  on ACA-related topics and dental insurance including, for example, the capacity of dental providers to accommodate new coverage options available as result of the ACA.