Some dental insurance plans operating in Orange County took major enrollment hits, but overall membership grew, according to the Business Journal’s annual list.
Local enrollment among the 14 largest dental health maintenance and preferred-provider plans in Orange County grew 2.4% to 2.1 million.
Delta Dental of California, which again tops the list this year, said its local enrollment rose 8% to 956,983 members through July.
Delta became the Orange County market leader in 2007. It supplanted Safeguard Dental Health Plans, which is now a unit of MetLife Inc. of New York.
Five of the plans added members, and three saw their numbers fall. Totals for six are Business Journal estimates.
MetLife continued as the No. 2 plan on the list. MetLife reported having 205,693 enrollees in Orange County, basically flat over the past year.
The Business Journal estimates that Anthem Blue Cross, the No. 3 dental health plan, has 200,000 members, unchanged from a year ago. Anthem Blue Cross is part of Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.
No. 4 Aetna Dental said it had 144,315 dental plan members in Orange County, down 7% from last year’s 155,401 members.
Dental Benefit Providers of California, a subsidiary of United HealthCare Services, is the No. 5 plan with an estimated 135,000 members.
No. 6 Cigna Dental, a unit of Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp., has an estimated 131,000 local members, unchanged from 2011’s list.
No. 7 Guardian Life Insurance Company of America said its local membership grew 2% to 102,542.
Orange-based Western Dental Services came in at No. 8 again. The Business Journal estimates that Western Dental has 79,325 members, unchanged from a year ago.
Biggest Drop
No. 9 United Concordia, which is based in Harrisburg, Pa., had the biggest membership drop on the list. United Concordia reported having 35,347 members in the county, down 29% from a year ago. The plan didn’t return a call seeking comment.
Golden West Dental & Vision, another unit of WellPoint, continued as the list’s No. 10 plan. The Business Journal estimates that Golden West has 35,000 members in Orange County.
No. 11 Ameritas Group Dental’s OC enrollment fell 6% to 29,720. Ameritas is part of UNIFI Mutual Holding Co. of Lincoln, Neb.
Premier Access Dental and Vision, which is based in Sacramento and has a local office in San Clemente, made the list for the second year as the No. 12 dental plan. Premier Access said its membership rose 3% to 25,845 members.
Dental Health Services, which is headquartered in Long Beach, jumped to No. 13. Dental Health said it had 10,000 Orange County members, up 25% from a year ago.
The list is completed by No. 14 Newport Dental, a business unit of Irvine-based Smile Brands Group Inc. The Business Journal estimates that Newport Dental had 12,500 members, unchanged from a year ago.
