Delta Dental Wins $1 Billion Defense Contract; Five-Year Renewal Extends Dental Benefits Offer to 4.2 Million Eligible Retirees.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

SAN FRANCISCO & SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 2002

Delta Dental Plan of California announced today that the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) of the Department of Defense has awarded the company a five-year renewal of the contract to administer the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP).

The TRDP, authorized by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1997, offers affordable dental benefits to the nation's 4.2 million uniformed services retirees and their family members. The new contract becomes effective on May 1, 2003 and is valued at nearly $1 billion. With its current enrollment of 650,000, the TRDP is already the nation's largest voluntary, all enrollee-paid dental program.

"Based on the program's excellent track record and our plans to accelerate the availability of comprehensive benefits with fewer restrictions, we expect to see some healthy growth in the TRDP over the course of the new contract period," said Delta Dental President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Radine.

The TRDP will continue as a national, combined fee-for-service/preferred provider program that offers enrollees access to any licensed dentist in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Canada. While enrollees may seek care from any licensed dentist in the service area, optimal benefits will be available to those enrolled retirees and their family members who choose a participating dentist.

The new contract for the TRDP reduces the mandatory enrollment obligation to only 12 months, after which enrollees can remain in the program on a month-to-month basis. Additionally, the waiting period for a full scope of benefits has been reduced to just 12 months, after which 50 percent coverage for crowns, bridges, full/partial dentures and orthodontics goes into effect.

"Since the program was first introduced in 1998, Congress and the Department of Defense have steadily increased the benefits we are allowed to offer," said Lowell Daun, DDS, senior vice president for Delta's Federal Services division.

Dr. Daun notes the program continues to carry a $50 per person, per year deductible, but now also includes a family cap of $150 and an increased annual maximum amount of $1,200 against which preventive and diagnostic services are not counted. Coverage for these services, as well as for basic restorative services, periodontics, endodontics, oral surgery and dental emergencies is available immediately on the effective date of coverage. Crowns, bridges, full and partial dentures and orthodontics are available after only 12 months continuous enrollment.

As with the current TRDP, eligible retirees and their family members can find answers to their questions about the program as well as enroll using Delta's dedicated TRDP web site at www.trdp.org or by calling the toll-free number at 888/838-8737.

For San Francisco-based Delta Dental Plan of California and its Federal Services division based in Rancho Cordova near Sacramento, the renewal allows the division to continue its significant contribution to the company's most recent growth in enrollment. The nonprofit, dental service corporation currently has a membership of nearly 16 million Americans, and over $3.3 billion in annual revenues.

Delta Dental Plan of California is a member of a larger holding company system, formed jointly with Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and several affiliate companies, covering 18.7 million enrollees in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Both the California and Pennsylvania Delta Plans are members of the national Delta Dental Plans Association, which collectively covers approximately 42 million Americans.