Date of Conferral
11-13-2025
Date of Award
November 2025
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Health Services
Advisor
Nicole Dhanraj
Abstract
Dental health is a critical component of overall well-being but is not a mandatory benefit in the Traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage programs. Few researchers explore whether the generosity of supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage, such as dental coverage, are associated with better beneficiary experience and retention in the program. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the potential associations between supplemental dental benefits generosity and voluntary disenrollment in Medicare Advantage plans. Penchansky and Thomas’ theory of access (1981) and Rivera-Hernandez et al.’s (2021) Medicare Advantage plan choice and retention framework were used to understand the associations between elements of access and beneficiary decision-making. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to explore the topic, leveraging publicly available data to explore this association. Medicare Advantage contracts were classified into five groups based on the enrollment weighted average of their plan-level supplemental dental benefit generosity. This study found a statistically significant association between supplemental dental benefits and voluntary disenrollment (F(4) = 8.373, p <.001). Plans offering no supplemental dental benefits had the lowest mean voluntary disenrollment (M = .083, SD = .071) whereas plans with the high generosity had the highest mean voluntary disenrollment (M = .176, SD = .099). These findings indicate that supplemental dental benefit generosity may not actually contribute to a positive beneficiary experience and retention, warranting further investigation to understand supplemental benefit generosity and beneficiary experience and satisfaction.
Recommended Citation
Bressler-Archambeau, Carly J., "Primary Teachers’ Implementation Experiences Transitioning From Balanced Literacy to Science of Reading" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 19144.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/19144
