Six Dental Insurers to Refund $8.4 Million Under First Enforced Loss Ratio Law

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Six dental insurers will return $8.4 million to Massachusetts consumers for falling short of the state’s dental loss ratio standard, the first rebates any state has required and enforced under such a standard. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance announced the refunds Aug. 6.

The carriers are Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Guardian Life Insurance Company, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Insurance Company, Reliance Standard Insurance Company, Standard Insurance Company, and Starmount Life Insurance Company.

The dental refunds are part of $14.5 million being returned by nine carriers. The remaining $6.1 million comes from three health insurers under the state’s separate medical loss ratio requirement: Harvard Pilgrim, Massachusetts General Brigham Health Plan, and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company. Harvard Pilgrim appears on both lists.

Massachusetts requires commercial dental insurers to spend at least 83% of premium dollars on dental care services. The state’s health insurance standard is 88% for individual and small employer plans, above the federal standard of 85%. Insurance Commissioner Michael Caljouw said carriers that fall short of those standards over a three-year period are required to return a portion of premiums to consumers.

Gov. Maura Healey said people deserve to know that when they pay for coverage, “their money is actually going toward care.”

Individual refund amounts depend on the carrier and the premiums a policyholder paid. Rebates go out as a check or as a credit toward future premium payments, and carriers were expected to begin issuing them during August.

The standard originated with dentists rather than legislators. Massachusetts voters approved Question 2, the Medical Loss Ratios for Dental Insurance Plans Initiative, on Nov. 8, 2022. The measure was initiated and financed by the Committee on Dental Insurance Quality, a group of dentists and patients chaired by orthodontist Mouhab Rizkallah. The ADA and the Massachusetts Dental Society supported the ballot campaign, which insurers opposed through the Committee to Protect Access to Quality Dental Care.

Beyond setting the 83% floor, Question 2 required dental carriers to file current and projected loss ratio data and other financial information with the Division of Insurance, and authorized the commissioner to approve or disapprove product rates.

According to the ADA, 13 additional states have since adopted dental loss ratio laws, most recently Mississippi this year.

Sources:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, “Healey-Driscoll Administration Returns $14.5 Million to Health and Dental Insurance Consumers and Businesses,” Aug. 6, 2026: mass.gov/news/returns-145-million-to-health-and-dental-insurance-consumers
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, “Question 2: Law Proposed by Initiative Petition,” 2022 Information for Voters: sec.state.ma.us/information-for-voters-22/quest_2
ADA News, “Massachusetts orders $8.4 million in dental insurance rebates under loss ratio law,” Aug. 10, 2026: adanews.ada.org/2026/august/massachusetts-dental-insurance-rebates