DENTAL PLANS.

Ranked by enrollment in L.A. County

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ABOUT 5.5 million people in the Los Angeles area have coverage with one of the top 15 dental plans in the area. The number of enrollees in L.A. up 7.4 percent from last year.

As was the case last year throughout the country, an increasing number of local enrollees are signing up for dental PPOs and referral products, while HMOs have declined in popularity.

Enrollees of dental HMOs declined 8.3 percent in 2000 from 1999 while dental PPOs' enrollment increased 20.8 percent, according to the National Association of Dental Plans' Enrollment Growth Survey.

PPOs, or preferred provider organizations, allow patients to choose dentists outside their plan's network.

In this year's list, PMI Dental Health Planjumped from No. 5 t No. 3 with a 50,000 boost in enrollment over the year.

THE PACESETTER

DELTA DENTAL PLAN OF CALIFORNIA

DELTA Dental Plan of California once again tops the list of plans in Los Angeles County this year, having more than half the 5.48 million combined local enrollees in the top 15 plans.

The area leader, which is based in San Francisco, currently has 2.98 million enrollees.

During the year, Delta Dental replaced its retiring CEO with Gary Radine, who now carries the titles of president and CEO. It also created a holding company, Dentegra Group Inc., to manage Delta Dental Plan of California and Delta Dental of Pennsylvania. The two groups previously operated separately.

The holding company broadens the network of Delta Dental Plan users, which previously was concentrated in 11 states, to 16 states and Washington, D.C, said Jerry Holcombe, senior vice president of administrative services for Delta Dental Plan of California.

Delta Dental had no significant drops in enrollment in 2000, Holcombe said.

The group got a big boost from its small-business enrollees, totaling 300,000 people at the end of 2000, he said. The numbers are up from 90,000 enrollees in 1998, when the company formed an alliance with area health plan administrators, such as BenefitMall.com and Claremont Insurance Services, which already offer services to small businesses.

Rank  Plan (Ranking in 2000)                 Enrollment [1]
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