A Strong Voice in Health Care Reform

More than two years ago, when we became actively involved with health care reform, we had these main objectives in mind:

1. Preserve dental benefits for the 166 million Americans who currently have them and the 135,700 dentists nationwide who contract with Delta Dental.
2. Expand dental benefits for low-income adults and children with unmet needs.
3. Keep costs associated with health care reform and any new regulation from adding to the overall cost of dental benefits administration for our customers.
4. Join with larger dental benefits industry organizations across the nation so that together we could analyze and respond to Congressional proposals with a unified voice.

Our current activities include lobbying Health & Human Services and Congress for the following:

• Clarification of how and when stand-alone dental carriers can offer essential pediatric dental benefits outside, as well as inside, health care Exchanges beginning in 2014.
• A rational, affordable, essential dental benefits plan design for children.
• Adult dental coverage that can be sold on a voluntary basis in addition to the required children's dental coverage.

In general, Delta Dental supports legislation that allows stand-alone dental plans to compete both inside and outside Exchanges, as well preserve and build on coverage that already exist outside of Exchanges.