Dental insurance, managed care and traditional practice

The author examined the impact of trends in commercial insurance plans and their managed care products on the traditional fee-for-service solo or partnership model of dental practice.

In response to rising dental expenditures, employers are passing on more costs of dental insurance to employees, dropping dental benefits altogether and moving from indemnity to managed care plans, mainly preferred provider organizations. These trends are likely to continue, resulting in fewer people with employer-based dental insurance coverage.

These changes in dental insurance coverage are unlikely to challenge the traditional model of dental practice within the next five years, largely because of the growing decline in the supply of dental services and a lack of local market concentration of dental managed care companies.