UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s buy last year of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. helped fuel enrollment gains at Orange County’s top dental insurers.
The 14 dental health maintenance and preferred provider organizations on this week’s Business Journal list saw their membership grow 5% to 1.5 million members during the past 12 months.
|
|
Estimates were made for six dental plans that declined to provide enrollment figures.
The largest surge came from No. 5 UnitedHealthcare Dental, whose tally included Cypress-based PacifiCare’s enrollment. UnitedHealthcare Dental’s membership rose 63% to 121,307.
Aliso Viejo-based SafeGuard Dental & Vision took the top spot again, with an estimated 400,000 local members, down from 428,000 last year.
Factoring out SafeGuard, the remaining OC dental plan providers posted a 9% increase in local membership.
SafeGuard, which went private in 2004, had posted a large enrollment gain on last year’s list after it bought the California dental and vision HMO membership from GE Wellness Dental & Vision in early 2005.
The plan provider reported 402 HMO dentists under contract this year, down from 550 a year ago, and 1,590 PPO dentists in the program, off from 2,171 a year earlier.
No. 2 Delta Dental of California in Cerritos reported 10% growth in OC enrollment to 224,007 members. Delta Dental’s statewide gain mostly was the result of new accounts, according to a statement by MohammadReza Navid, the insurer’s vice president of sales.
Delta picked up enrollment gains from Southwest Airlines Co., Mervyn’s LLC and Gymboree Corp., among other businesses, Navid said.
The Business Journal estimated No. 3 Aetna Dental’s OC enrollment at 140,000. No. 4 Cigna Dental in Glendale said its enrollment was up 1% to 131,000.
No. 7 Irvine’s Managed Dental Care changed its name from Guardian Life. Managed Dental posted a 3% increase to 94,866 local members during the past year.
PMI Dental Health Plan, a Cerritos-based unit of Delta Dental, was No. 8 with a 1% rise in OC membership to 94,202. No. 9 Western Dental Services Inc. of Orange grew 10% to 73,134.
Woodland Hills’ United Concordia Cos. ranked No. 10 with 5% growth to 52,441 members. No. 11 Golden West Dental & Vision in Camarillo had an estimated 50,000 OC enrollees.
Costa Mesa’s Ameritas Group Dental & Eye Care took the No. 12 spot with a 20% enrollment gain to 30,993.
The list was rounded out by No. 13 Santa Ana-based Newport Dental Plan, with an estimated 11,000 members, and No. 14 Dental Health Services of Long Beach with an estimated 3,500 members.
