Spring 2006 / No. 67
Voluntary dental products
While sales
of voluntary dental plans over the last 3 or 4 years have not
increased as dramatically as was predicted in 2001, most carriers
remain optimistic. This was one of the findings in a new study, Voluntary
Dental Products, recently released by Eastbridge Consulting.
In fact,
voluntary dental plans have made a name for themselves in the
voluntary/worksite market. In 2004, new business annualized
premium (sales) of voluntary dental plans was estimated at
around $425 million (based on Eastbridge data), and employees
consistently rate dental coverage as one of the most wanted
and most important employee benefits. Carriers say the product
will continue to be an important part of a voluntary offering
and that growth in the line is very likely. Employers as well
as carriers predict that with the pressure of increasing costs
for health insurance, more employers will reduce or eliminate
employer funding of dental plans. Other findings of the report
include:
- There
are more players offering voluntary dental plans today than
in our prior study in 2001.
- Many
of the companies offering voluntary dental plans also offer
a range of other voluntary products.
- Discount
card programs have not pushed out traditional insured plans,
but insurance carriers are offering slimmed down plans to
appeal to the low-cost market need.
- There
is an increasing trend towards “employee choice” in
selecting dental plans.
In addition
to exploring these findings the report, Voluntary Dental
Products, covers general data on each of 17 profiled carrier
(distribution, voluntary dental sales, penetration, claims,
target markets, etc.) as well as competitors, product structure,
underwriting, costs, commissions, sales/enrollment, and future
trends in the voluntary dental market.
With this
data, carriers can continue to fine-tune their strategies around
their voluntary dental products and use the competitive intelligence
to compare their plans against the competition. [Note: In order
to protect the confidentiality of the carriers profiled, all
data is reported anonymously by assigning each carrier a random
number.]
The report
is now available for purchase for just $2,500. Click
here to view more information about the report, including the
table of contents. To purchase the report, e-mail us at
info@eastbridge.com or phone (860) 676-9633. |
