Delta Dental Insurance Company today reported surpassing 1 million dental health plan enrollees, a 13-percent increase over the prior year's enrollment and its sixth consecutive year of double-digit enrollment growth.
Combined total enrollment in DeltaPremier, the company's traditional fee-for-service program, and in DeltaPreferred Option, its dental PPO, has doubled in the past five years from 541,000 in 1997 to 1.08 million as of January 1, 2002, including 465,000 in Texas. In addition, another 54,000 are enrolled in DeltaCare, a dental HMO program administered in Texas by Alpha Dental Programs, Inc.
Last year alone, Delta Dental Insurance Company added 255,000 new fee-for-service enrollees within its 10-state territory, including 158,000 in Texas. Company officials attribute this latest increase to the recent signing of several key large clients, high retention of existing customers and improved marketplace awareness of the Delta Dental brand and product line.
"The Delta Dental brand is getting some hard-won recognition from the marketplace as a result of exceptional customer service and its extensive and stable dentist networks," said Robert Elliott, president of Delta Dental Insurance Company. "In turn, we are doing everything we can to make the job of adding those benefits simple and cost effective for companies and their employees."
David White, president of Morgan White Ltd., a large insurance brokerage headquartered in Jackson, Miss., cited Delta Dental's commitment to the dental benefits marketplace as key to its success.
"In recent years, there have been many 'fringe players' in the marketplace who entered the dental market as a sideline, but never made the commitment to dental as their central focus," White explained. "The strongest players are the ones who are here for the long term, such as Delta Dental.
"Employers are now realizing that Delta Dental, because of its specialization, can provide more stable costs over the long term. This, combined with Delta Dental's quality of service, provides an excellent value to client groups."
One of the new programs launched last year includes an individual dental HMO program in Texas, offered by Alpha Dental Programs, inc. and available through online enrollment. The plan is administered by Delta Dental affiliate PMI Dental Health Plan.
Delta Dental Insurance Company is part of a nonprofit holding company encompassing its parent company, Delta Dental Plan of California, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and their affiliates. The holding company is one of the largest dental benefits delivery systems in the nation, with a combined 18.7 million enrollees in 16 states and the District of Columbia. All of the holding company entities are part of the Illinois-based Delta Dental Plans Association, whose independent member plans collectively cover more than 39 million people nationwide.
Delta Dental Insurance Company has operations in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, Texas and Utah.
