More than 26% of dentists have dropped out of some insurance networks since the start of 2024, according to a survey conducted by the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
According to the ADA's "Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry" report from the third quarter, 26.1% of dentists said that they have dropped some insurance networks this year, with 22.6% responding that they have not yet but might later in 2024. The poll surveyed 227 respondents.
The top reason by a wide margin was the reimbursement amount, with nearly all dentists who had dropped networks listing it as a reason why.
Here is why dentists have been dropping out of insurance networks in 2024:
Note: Respondents could select multiple answers.
Reimbursement amount: 98.7%
Administrative burden: 57.3%
Lack of patients participating in the plan: 8.4%
Other: 9.7%
Here are the answers for the 22 respondents who answered "other":
Denial of coverage/interference with treatment decisions: 50%
Inefficiencies/delayed payments: 18.2%
Bundling codes/down-coding: 9.1%
Needed to reduce patient pool: 9.1%
Dictative approach to contract agreement: 4.5%
Network affiliation agreements: 4.5%
No longer needed to participate: 4.5%
Network shared information with other insurance networks: 4.5%