October 7, 2010//Lincoln, Neb.//Today, Ameritas Group announced My Dental Plan^SM, its new insurance coverage for individuals and families.

Until now, Ameritas Group has focused its dental health expertise on group plans. Karen Gustin, Ameritas Group’s senior vice president of group marketing, national accounts and block acquisition, said the company decided to add individual to meet a growing need.

“At year-end 2009, 176 million Americans had dental coverage, leaving more than 130 million uninsured,” Gustin said. “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should result in dental coverage for millions of uninsured children. But that won’t meet a rising need among adults.”

Gustin also pointed to the 78 million people born in the U.S. between 1946 and 1964.

“The first baby boomers turned 64 this year,” she said. “As they retire, they don’t want to lose access to coverage. Our individual plans are there for them regardless of job status or age. They can help people pay for the dental care they need to stay healthy and continue lifelong good habits, such as regular exams and cleanings.”

Gustin said other good candidates for the new plans include membership organizations ineligible for group coverage, the self-employed and people who have no employer-sponsored coverage, including seasonal and part-time workers.

About the Plans
Plan members can see any dentist, including those offering discounted services as providers in Ameritas’ dental PPO, one of the country’s largest. Benefits help cover annual exams and cleanings, fillings, X-rays, simple extractions, and fluoride and sealants for kids. If selected, major care benefits help cover root canals, space maintainers, surgical endodontics, periodontal procedures, crowns and surgical extractions. There’s also a plan that includes an eye care benefit.

About Ameritas Group
Information about Ameritas Group and the new plans is available at ameritasgroup.com.  Ameritas Group, a division of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., a UNIFI company, has served customers since the mid-1970s and today provides dental, eye care and hearing care insurance products and services for more than 65,000 employer groups, insuring or administering benefits for more than 4.8 million people nationwide. Ameritas has one of the largest dental networks in the country with over 147,000 provider access points. Ameritas Group’s claims contact center recently earned BenchmarkPortal’s prestigious Center of Excellence certification for 2009, the third consecutive year. In New York, group insurance products are offered through First Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York, a UNIFI company.

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For more information, contact:
Karen Gustin, senior vice president - group marketing, national accounts and block acquisition
800-543-7784, ext. 82507
e-mail: kgustin@ameritas.com