Delta Dental selected for Florida
Healthy Kids Program
December 12, 2000
Maitland-based company one of
three dental plans chosen to introduce new comprehensive
dental benefit for Florida's kids
Maitland, Fla. - Delta Dental Insurance
Company, a member of one of the nation's largest
single dental benefits systems, announced today
its selection to help launch a new dental program
for up to 160,000 of Florida's children.
The Florida Healthy Kids Corporation
awarded Delta Dental a multi-year contract to add
dental to existing medical and vision benefits under
the Florida Healthy Kids program. Florida Healthy
Kids was created in 1990 by the Florida Legislature
to provide healthcare to the uninsured children
of working families.
Delta Dental, with a regional office
in Maitland as well as a field office in Miami,
was one of three dental plans selected for the new
dental portion of Florida Healthy Kids following
a competitive bidding process.
Delta's program may become effective
as early as February 2001. A staggered rollout is
planned. The benefits require no copayments for
covered services, nor are there annual maximums.
Beneficiaries will receive full diagnostic and preventive
services, basic and restorative care, as well as
major restorative treatment from a network of participating
Florida dentists. Most families enrolled in the
program pay $15 a month to receive a full array
of medical, dental and vision benefits.
The Sacramento, California-based
State Government Programs division of Delta Dental
Plan of California - the parent company of Delta
Dental Insurance Company -- will administer most
aspects of Delta's program, including recruitment
of a large Florida dentist network that allows wide
access to care, eventually from every county.
"Our goal is nothing less than
to provide access to excellent dental care for every
Florida child that chooses the Delta program and
is enrolled in the Florida Healthy Kids program,"
said Robert Elliott, president of Delta Dental Insurance
Company.
Elliott also commended the Florida
Healthy Kids Corporation and the Florida Legislature
for working to address oral health, particularly
in the wake of the recently issued U.S. Surgeon
General's Report on Oral Health. That report, released
last May, describes dental disease in the United
States as a silent epidemic and calls on the public
and private sectors to work together in order to
provide wider access to dental insurance, fluoridation
and other dental health
The Florida Healthy Kids Corporation
will automatically extend the new dental benefit
to all eligible children currently receiving medical
and vision benefits through Florida Healthy Kids,
asking parents to select one of the three dental
plans now under contract. To learn more about Florida
Healthy Kids, parents can call toll-free 1-888-FLA-KIDS
(1-888-352-5437) or visit the web site at www.healthykids.org.
Dentists who wish to sign up to
participate in the Florida Healthy Kids program
with Delta Dental may call toll free 1-866-820-6411.
Delta Dental Insurance Company and
its marketing affiliates offer traditional, PPO
and dental HMO programs in 10 states outside of
California, particularly the South and Southeastern
US Along with Delta Dental Plan of California, it
recently joined forces with Delta Dental of Pennsylvania
and its affiliates in five mid-Atlantic states to
form a new national holding company that is one
of the nation's largest single integrated dental
benefits systems with 16.2 million enrollees.
The holding company and all its
members also belong to the Delta Dental Plans Association,
which collectively covers 35 million Americans.
| Enrollment and
program information |
| Family enrollment
information: |
(888) FLA-KIDS |
| |
(888) 352-5437 |
| |
www.healthykids.org |
| Dentist enrollment: |
(866) 820-6411 |
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