PROVIDENCE – Delta Dental of Rhode Island is the dominant player for dental insurance in Rhode Island, providing coverage to about 615,000 members – about seven times its nearest competitor, according to Joseph A. Nagle, Delta’s president and CEO.
But Nagle said he is worried about what he calls an unintended consequence of the final version of federal health care reform law: standalone dental insurance plans were left out of the equation for how health exchanges will be configured.
Today, in most cases, with employer-based health insurance plans, when employees choose to enroll in dental insurance plans, it is a separate decision from purchasing health insurance, Nagle said.
Under the new health care reform law, however, participants in the health exchange will purchase benefits from one carrier for both health and dental benefits. As a result, Nagle says standalone dental insurance plans may be left out in the cold.
“They don’t require benefits to be offered separately by medical carriers,” Nagle said of the new health care reform plans for health exchanges to be created in 2014. “It’s one product, one price, and by default, [participants] will also be selecting their dental benefits. There should be transparency. … Individuals should know what is in their package; there should be competition. Without competition, you’re not getting the best value.”
To try and rectify the situation, Nagle has met with Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, who is putting together a coalition of businesses to help shape the design of such exchanges. Nagle said that he wants any health exchanges created in Rhode Island to put choice back in the hands of the individual, rather than have it be forced by the carrier.
Nagle said he has also spoken with the Rhode Island congressional delegation and with R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller about the issue.
