GAO Report Finds Little Change in Dental Coverage

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), "DENTAL SERVICES: Information on Coverage, Payments, and Fee Variation" finds that:

"Overall, trends in dental coverage show little change from 1996 to 2010--around 62 percent of individuals had coverage. The percentage of the population with private dental coverage decreased from 53 to 50 percent...

GAO's analysis showed that average annual dental payments--the total amount paid out of pocket by individuals and by other payers--increased 26 percent, inflation-adjusted, from $520 in 1996 to $653 in 2010. Average annual out-of-pocket payments increased 21 percent, from $242 to $294, for individuals with private insurance and 32 percent, from $392 to $518, for individuals with no dental coverage."

The GAO report is available here.