Email to: Cory.King@ohic.ri.gov

CC: OHIC.HealthInsInq@ohic.ri.gov

Dear Commissioner King,

My name is [Your Name], and I live in [City or Town], Rhode Island. I am writing about the minimum dental loss ratio recommendation your office is preparing for the General Assembly under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 27-82, due October 1, 2026.

A dental loss ratio is supposed to answer one simple question: how much of every premium dollar pays for actual dental care. A number by itself will not answer it. I am asking that your recommendation include three things, together.

Set the minimum at 85 percent.

The four dental loss ratio bills Rhode Island has already considered all set the standard at 85 percent, and none of them passed. Massachusetts has proven that 83 percent works in a real market, with real carriers and real rebates. Recommending “continued monitoring” in place of a figure would hand the next three years back to the status quo. Please recommend a number.

Tighten the definition of what counts as care.

This is what decides whether the number means anything. Rhode Island’s statute currently defines “incurred claims” to include charitable contributions, workforce development, care management expense, fraud reduction, and value-based incentive pools (R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-82-2). That is the broadest definition of patient care spending in the country. A carrier reporting 85 percent under Rhode Island’s definition can be delivering less actual treatment than a carrier reporting 83 percent in Massachusetts. Please recommend the Massachusetts definition, not just a Massachusetts-sized percentage.

Make the carrier filings public.

Chapter 27-82 does not require carrier filings to be published. Louisiana, Colorado, Arizona, Maine, Virginia, and Washington all publish theirs. Right now, your recommendation is being prepared from data that no Rhode Island patient, dentist, or legislator is permitted to see, and that no one outside your office can check. Please recommend that every carrier’s filing be made public.

Rhode Islanders pay for dental coverage expecting it to pay for dental care. A clear number, an honest definition, and public filings are how we can know that it does.

Thank you for your work on this. I would appreciate a reply letting me know how your recommendation will address these three points.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

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