Arizona Dental Benefits Provider COVID-19 Relief Funding Efforts Expected to Reach $1.1B 

Delta Dental announced its COVID-19 relief efforts are expected to reach $1.1 billion by early 2021, including more than $10 million in Arizona alone. This significant financial commitment builds on Delta Dental’s 65-year history of supporting America’s oral health and continues its leadership in the provision of support to the U.S. dental marketplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, Delta Dental of Arizona and its Foundation has already committed $9.5 million to assist local communities and further its mission of improving lives by promoting optimal oral health, with more than $500,000 in relief still planned for early 2021.

Key areas of relief include:

• A 50% premium credit on the June invoice for more than 2,900 group dental customers
• Rate freezes for approximately 650 small- to medium-sized businesses renewing their PPO dental/and or vision plans
• Claims advances of up to $50,000 for network dental offices
• A $500,000 donation to Arizona’s 23 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs)
• 30,000 toothbrushes and paste donated to homeless shelters across the state
• More than $1.7 Million in 2020 and 2021 Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation grants

“The commitments made by the Delta Dental companies to support our customers, providers and communities throughout the pandemic are part of a dedicated and unwavering effort to fulfill our mission of advancing the oral health of all Americans,” said Wells Hutchison, President & CEO, Delta Dental Plans Association.

From the beginning of the pandemic, Delta Dental companies have been continuously working to support customers, dentists, not-for-profits, and health centers across the country to ensure patients can receive the care they need now and in the future. Additionally, Delta Dental was instrumental in ensuring access to federal funding for dentists as they navigated office closure mandates resulting from the pandemic. Through the success of Delta Dental’s advocacy, dentists were included on a list of providers eligible for much-needed federal relief funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Delta Dental companies have also launched a wide range of other programs and funding initiatives to support America’s oral and overall health. Examples of this work include providing critical funding to safety–net dental clinics, not-for-profits focused on health and wellness, and food banks, among many other efforts.

The latest information on what Delta Dental is doing in your community can be found here. For more information on oral health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit Delta Dental’s COVID-19 webpage.

Delta Dental of Arizona is the leading dental benefits provider in Arizona, serving more than 1.2 million enrollees and more than 3,500 contracted dentists across the state. Passionate about oral health and its importance to generations of families, Delta Dental of Arizona has worked for nearly 50 years to improve oral health by emphasizing preventive care and making dental coverage accessible to a wide variety of employers, groups and individuals. Since 2010, Delta Dental of Arizona, through its Foundation, gave $10 million to support oral health education and disease prevention programs for underserved and uninsured communities across the state.

Delta Dental Plans Association, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the not-for-profit national association of the 39 independent Delta Dental companies. Through these companies, Delta Dental is the nation’s largest dental insurance provider, covering more than 80 million Americans, and offering the country’s largest dental network with approximately 156,000 participating dentists. In 2019, Delta Dental companies provided $76 million in direct and in-kind community outreach support to improve the oral health of adults, children, and infants in local communities across the country.