Orange County’s largest dental insurers saw local enrollment drop by 5% to about 1.8 million people during the past year, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
With higher unemployment and companies cutting back on expenses, enrollment in dental health maintenance organization and preferred provider organization plans has taken a hit across the board.
Six insurance providers on this year’s list lost members, two gained members and two were flat.
The Business Journal estimated enrollment for three of the dental plans.
No. 1 San Francisco-based Delta Dental of California set the tone for the list,it had the largest enrollment decline, falling 14% to 496,312 OC enrollees, or about 80,000 less than a year ago.
Delta’s OC enrollment drop came in the wake of its loss of the Los Angeles Unified School District as a client, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Risberg. A number of the district’s employees live in OC cities that border Los Angeles County, such as La Habra, she said.
This is Delta Dental’s third year at the top of the list.
Delta took over as market leader two years ago, succeeding Safeguard Dental Health Plans. The Business Journal estimates that No. 2 Safeguard, a unit of New York-based MetLife Inc., has 460,000 local enrollees. Safeguard hasn’t reported figures since 2007, when it said it had 460,812 OC members.
Safeguard picked up a lot of members about four years ago when it bought GE Wellness Dental and Vision.
Aetna Dental, a unit of Aetna Inc. of Hartford, Conn., maintained its No. 3 ranking on this year’s dental insurer list. Aetna’s OC membership declined 6% to 142,000.
The Business Journal estimates that UnitedHealthcare Dental/PacifiCare Dental, the list’s No. 4 dental plan, has 135,000 local members.
Cigna Dental, owned by Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp., was No. 5 on this year’s list after a local enrollment decline of 11%. Cigna said it had 122,364 dental plan members in the county, down from 136,900 a year earlier.
The largest membership gain came from No. 6 Anthem Blue Cross, which reported 117,585 local members, 17% more than a year ago. The company said increased diversity of services is attracting members.
No. 7 Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America’s local membership fell 1% to 96,274. Guardian changed how it reported its membership in 2008.
Orange-based Western Dental Services, the No. 8 plan, saw its local enrollment grow 2% to 75,500 members. Besides Anthem Blue Cross, it was the only dental insurer on the list to report a rise in local enrollees.
No. 9 United Concordia Cos. of Woodland Hills said its OC enrollees dropped 7% to 48,064.
Golden West Dental and Vision, which like Anthem Blue Cross is owned by WellPoint, posted a 6% local membership drop to 34,631 and held its No. 10 ranking on the list.
Enrollment at Ameritas Group Dental, part of Ameritas Acacia Mutual Holding Co. of Lincoln, Neb., remained virtually flat at 25,908 members, placing it at No. 11 on
the list.
The Business Journal estimated that the list’s No. 12 dental plan, Newport Dental, has 11,000 local members. Newport is part of Bright Now Dental Inc. of Santa Ana.
Bright Now (see story, page 24) provides business support services to more than 300 dental offices in 18 states. It’s the 25th largest private company in OC, according to our list of private companies that was published in May.
Bright Now had $445 million in 2008 revenue, a 4% increase from a year earlier. The company has grown rapidly since 2003, when it had about $70 million in revenue. Bright Now started growing by buying other dental management companies and opening offices.
The list concludes with Dental Health Services, the No. 13 plan, whose local office is just over the county line in Long Beach. Dental Health’s OC enrollment was essentially flat at 2,018 members.
