Health Service Board authorizes one-time use of Delta Dental stabilization surplus and approves lower PPO rates

Aon recommended and the board approved a one-time suspension of the health service board'approved stabilization policy for the Delta Dental active-employee PPO plan and authorized applying two-thirds of the 12/31/2022 stabilization reserve surplus toward a buy-down for plan-year 2024.

Aon's presentation outlined that the plan had accumulated a large stabilization surplus through favorable claims experience. The staff recommendation was to apply two-thirds of the reported $11,113,000 surplus (Aon referenced a buy-down amount in the presentation; the transcript shows two related figures, $7,499,000 and $7,409,000, as two-thirds calculations in adjacent slides) to reduce 2024 rates. Aon said this would leave more than $3,000,000 in stabilization starting in 2025. The proposed active-employee PPO total rates would decline by 6.9% from 2023 to 2024; fully insured HMO dental plans would see no rate change under their multi-year commitments.

Board discussion and vote: Commissioners raised access and utilization concerns despite favorable claims experience and urged monitoring of provider network access. The motion to approve the multi-part recommendation was moved, seconded and approved by roll call (all present Commissioners recorded Aye). Staff said they expect to return to normal amortization in future cycles and urged continued emphasis on preventive-dental utilization.