Howard Health plan to include dental

Posted by Jeff Quinton on March 25, 2008

Howard County’s innovative health access plan for uninsured residents will also have a dental component, county officials announced yesterday.

Residents who enroll in the Healthy Howard program, due to begin Oct. 1, will be eligible for discounts of 35 percent to 50 percent from 75 dentists and orthodontists who practice in the county and participate in the Aetna dental program, said Mike Bucci, marketing vice president for Aetna, who made the announcement in Ellicott City with County Executive Ken Ulman and county Health Officer Dr. Peter L. Beilenson. Participants would pay monthly fees of $1.65 for one person or $3.30 for a family. A typical semiannual dental exam and cleaning that now costs about $80 would cost $50, and deeper discounts would apply to more costly work, Bucci said.

Aetna has already pledged $56,000 toward the $750,000 in private funds the county needs in the program’s first year. An announcement of a larger cash grant from the Horizon Foundation is scheduled for Friday.