Los Angeles Residents Could Save $170M/Year On Dental Care

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Brighter.com, the online consumer solution that provides greater access to quality and affordable dental care, released a report detailing alarming variation in dental care prices across Los Angeles and the sizeable impact this has on LA's uninsured. The US Dental Price Variation and Transparency Series: LA County Report, conducted by Empirica Research, found that uninsured LA residents could save over $170 million a year on their dental care costs through increased price transparency.

Over 40% of LA's population currently lack dental insurance (four times the number that lack health insurance) and must pay for their dental care out-of-pocket, so pricing differences can have a significant impact on household budgets. Seniors and minority residents are particularly impacted. The analysis of over 26 million billing claims, including 8,600 LA area dental practices, uncovered substantial price variation for the same dental procedures across Los Angeles, with differences in price often well over 400%. (See Table 1.1)

Brighter.com also commissioned an independent research company to conduct "mystery shopper" pricing surveys to uncover specific instances of pricing variations on a neighborhood level. The results of the price survey, in which researchers posed as uninsured, cash-paying customers, yielded dramatic evidence of price disparity. Brighter.com found that the prices for identical procedures often varied significantly between dentists within the same neighborhood. In one case, an identical porcelain crown was quoted at $550 and $1,100 by two dental offices located less than 200 feet apart. (See Table 1.2)

These findings highlight the lack of price transparency in dental care. Few dentists market their prices and many are reluctant to provide pricing guidance to consumers. In Brighter.com's survey, 26% of Los Angeles dentists refused to provide any pricing information without an initial and often costly consultation. This is consistent with the national average. Los Angeles residents without dental insurance spend over $1.3 billion a year out-of-pocket on dental care. Without the protection of reduced fees from dental coverage and with no reliable source of transparent pricing information, uninsured patients struggle to make informed decisions about their dental care and regularly overpay for services or do not seek care for fear that they cannot afford the cost. While 84% of insured adults visit the dentist, only 57% of uninsured adults visit the dentist each year.

"Our mission is to connect consumers in need of dental care with great dentists that support our goal of providing our members with affordable prices," said Jake Winebaum, chief executive officer, Brighter.com. "This study and the pricing data available free on our site empowers consumers to become more informed and to take advantage of the group negotiating power so that they can dramatically lower their dental bills while improving their oral health."

A misconception concerning pricing differences in healthcare is that higher prices indicate higher quality care. Recent studies reveal that this is not necessarily the case. Rand Health's analysis of cost and outcome data from over 6,000 healthcare providers found "no significant cost-quality association" in the overall data.[1]

Increased access to prices on both a market and provider level can help reduce out-of-pocket dental expenses for the uninsured. Providing visibility into pricing at a procedure level empowers consumers to make more informed decisions, creating the potential for significant savings. Report author, Dr. David Neal said "Lowering healthcare costs through top-down policy change is important. But bottom-up, consumer-led change is also possible and is gaining traction. As consumers learn how to access price and quality information, they can start to 'talk within their wallets' and this will ultimately lower costs for everyone."

Brighter.com offers a simple and affordable alternative to dental insurance by aggregating the purchasing power of the nearly half of Americans without dental insurance to incentivize local dentists to offer affordable and transparent pricing to its members. The Brighter.com dental savings plan lets members easily view local pricing and access pre-negotiated savings of up to 60% at over 2,800 dentists in LA and 25,000 dentists nationwide. In LA, the average uninsured patient could save upwards of $300 on the annual cost of their dental care with a Brighter.com membership.

Los Angeles is the first market of approximately one dozen U.S. cities to be examined in the coming months, as part of Brighter's US Dental Price Variation and Transparency Research Series. To view the complete Los Angeles report, please visit:
http://www.brighter.com/research/price_transparency/los_angeles/

About Brighter.com
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, Brighter.com offers a dental savings plan that makes quality dental care affordable and accessible, and is the first site that allows consumers to compare dentists by price and reputation. Brighter is designed to help the nearly 50 percent of consumers without dental coverage, those with inadequate coverage, and small businesses. Using Brighter.com, patients can see the true cost of dental procedures before they visit the dentist, and with Brighter's pre-negotiated prices at 25,000 dentists nationwide, members can save up to 60 percent on all dental procedures.  Monthly and annual membership plans are available, starting as low as $9 a month.

[1] Hussey, P.  (2010). The Association Between Cost and Quality of Care Provided by Individual Physicians, Rand Health. Academy Health Annual Research Meeting, Boston, MA, p. 7. 

SOURCE Brighter.com