Could Health Care Reform Make Family Dental Coverage Worse?

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Although pediatric dental care would get a major boost from each of the pending national health care reform proposals call for expanded coverage. However, some insurance industry experts worry that the legislation may create unintended consequences and disruptions for adult and family dental coverage.

While he calls the children's benefit "an unbelievable mark of progress," Jeff Album, the vice president for public and government affairs for Delta Dental insurance company, fears that adults and employers may drop their dental coverage because of the legislation's treatment of dental plans and taxation of insurance benefits.

For example, dental insurers are worried that if Congress goes forward with proposals to tax high-cost or "Cadillac" insurance plans, some of those plans may ditch their adult dental coverage to help keep the overall premiums below the tax threshold. Album said that parents may be less likely to buy coverage for themselves if their children get dental benefits as part of comprehensive medical insurance package.

Initially, all the health-care reform bills called for pediatric dental care to be handled by plans that also offer medical insurance. However, the bill that passed the Senate Finance Committee yesterday was amended to allow stand-alone dental insurance companies to provide that coverage.

"These are unintended consequences that follow from not respecting the way the market delivers dental and vision benefits today," says Evelyn Ireland, executive director of the National Association of Dental Plans. According to Ireland, if Congress wants to keep costs low for those who gain coverage on health care reform, dental and vision specialty carriers should be allowed to provide children's benefits.

Jim Crall, a professor of pediatric dentistry at the University of California at Los Angeles, said it's important to take into consideration how the dental industry works now so that changes can be implemented smoothly and not lead to problems for families that have dental insurance. "Otherwise," he said, "we're going to end up with a hollow promise."