Media room
June 1, 2004
DHA dental provider options more than quadruple in Nevada
PPO provides customers with more choices, adds dentists to network
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Dental preferred provider organization (PPO) members in Nevada will soon have one more thing to smile about - access to a larger number of dentists. That's thanks to a new arrangement between Assurant Employee Benefits, Dental Health Alliance, L.L.C.(DHA) and Diversified Dental Services, Inc.
The new arrangement will allow Assurant Employee Benefits to substantially increase the number of dentists available to its Dental PPO customers through its affiliated PPO network, DHA.
DHA is a national PPO network with nearly 40,000 dental care providers and locations nationwide, including 179 in Nevada. It is jointly owned by Assurant, Inc. and Fortis Benefits Insurance Company. The new DHA panel will provide access to 658 dentists and locations in Las Vegas and 93 dentists and locations in Reno.
"PPO network growth is a priority for our business,” says James Gimarelli, D.M.D., vice president of dental marketing for Assurant Employee Benefits. “This agreement adds value to our dental plans by giving our customers four times the number of choices."
DHA will combine its existing base of participating dentists with those of Diversified Dental Services, an independent, regional dental preferred provider organization with a service area that includes the entire state of Nevada. The combined network will be marketed under the DHA name.
Gimarelli says the larger panel will be available to DHA members beginning June 1, 2004.
Printed provider directories for the combined network will be available soon. The provider directories will also be available on the Internet. To access the directories, visit www.assurantemployeebenefits.com and click on "provider search."
Assurant Employee Benefits -- The Benefits Solutions PeopleSM -- specializes in non-medical employee benefits. Assurant Employee Benefits provides long-term and short-term disability, life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage, dental insurance and disability reinsurance management services. Assurant Employee Benefits also offers voluntary (employee-paid) disability, life and dental plans. Underwriting flexibility allows Assurant Employee Benefits to develop tailor-made benefit plans for groups of any size.
Assurant Employee Benefits is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected other markets. Its four key business units -- Assurant Employee Benefits; Assurant Health; Assurant Preneed; and Assurant Solutions -- have partnered with clients who are leaders in their industries and have built leadership positions in a number of specialty insurance market segments in the U.S. and selected international markets.
Assurant is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. The Assurant Web site is www.assurant.com.
For more information contact:
Kevin Murphy
Assurant Employee Benefits
(816) 474-2436 or kevin.murphy@assurant.com
Jama Akers
Corporate Communications Group, Inc.
(800) 726-2990 or jakers@ccgcorp.com