On March 9, 2026, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled, Private Dental and Vision Insurance: Market Concentration Varied Among States. The report analyzed 2024 enrollment data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and found that market concentration in private, stand‑alone dental and vision insurance varied by state across both the group and individual insurance markets. Across all states, the combined market share of the three largest insurers in each state ranged from approximately 38 to 98 percent of enrollment in the dental group market and from approximately 41 to 96 percent in the vision group market. GAO did not identify aggregate data on the extent of vertical integration in the dental or vision insurance markets. Dental industry interviewees indicated that vertical integration in the dental insurance market is limited, with one interviewee noting that such integration is a relatively recent development.

The full report can be found here.

Impact on General Dentistry: The report highlights significant variation in dental insurance market concentration across states, with some markets dominated by a small number of insurers. These findings may inform future congressional and regulatory actions related to competition, transparency, and insurer practices in the dental insurance market.