Brighter.com has released a report detailing what the company says is significant variation in dental care prices across Los Angeles and the impact it has on the city's uninsured.
The "U.S. Dental Price Variation and Transparency Series: L.A. County Report," conducted by Empirica Research, found that uninsured Los Angeles residents could save more than $170 million a year on their dental care costs through increased price transparency.
More than 40% of the city's population currently lack dental insurance (four times the number that lack health insurance) and must pay for their dental care out-of-pocket, according to Brighter.com. Seniors and minority residents are particularly impacted, the report noted.
The company's analysis of more than 26 million billing claims, including 8,600 Los Angeles area dental practices, uncovered substantial price variation for the same dental procedures across the city, with differences in price often well over 400%.
Price variance of common dental procedures in Los Angeles
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Brighter.com also commissioned an independent research company to conduct "mystery shopper" pricing surveys to uncover specific instances of pricing variations on a neighborhood level. The company found that the prices for identical procedures often varied significantly between dentists within the same neighborhood.
Price variance for a porcelain crown
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Los Angeles residents without dental insurance spend more than $1.3 billion a year out-of-pocket on dental care, the company noted.
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