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Dental managed care

Most of California gets Medi-Cal dental through fee-for-service. Two counties do not. Here is who runs dental managed care in Sacramento and Los Angeles, and what the rules are in each.

Two regulators, two jobs

DHCS Department of Health Care Services
Runs Medi-Cal. It chooses the dental plans, holds their contracts and checks their work. Most of this site is about that system.
DMHC Department of Managed Health Care
Licenses California's managed care plans, private ones as well as Medi-Cal ones, and fines them when they break the rules.

These companies also sell private dental plans, the kind you or an employer pay for, and DMHC fines them over those too. So a fine on this site is not automatically a Medi-Cal fine. Every DentaQuest fine we list, for instance, is about something that happened before it had a Medi-Cal contract of its own.

The short version

Two counties out of fifty-eight

California delivers Medi-Cal dental benefits through two systems. Fee-for-service is the original one, and it still covers most of the state. Dental managed care, or DMC, is the other, and the Department of Health Care Services runs it in exactly two counties: Sacramento and Los Angeles.

DHCS started DMC in 1995, after a change in state law, to explore how effective managed care would be as a way to deliver dental services. Three decades later, that test still covers two counties out of fifty-eight.

Under DMC, the state pays each plan a set amount every month for every member signed up to it, whether or not that member ever sees a dentist. DHCS calls this a negotiated per capita rate. The plans are licensed by the California Department of Managed Health Care under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975. The benefits themselves are not different: DHCS states that covered services under managed care are the same ones provided under fee-for-service.

2

Counties of 58

1995

Program launched

3

Plans per county

1

County where it is required

The rule depends on your address

Same three plans, two different rules

Both counties are offered the same three dental plans. What changes is whether you are required to pick one.

Mandatory

Sacramento County

Geographic Managed Care (GMC). Medi-Cal members in Sacramento County who are eligible for dental services must select one of the three available plans. DHCS notes there are a few exceptions.

If you do not choose a plan by the deadline, DHCS chooses one for you.

There is a formal way out. A Beneficiary Dental Exception lets a member request to leave a DMC plan and move to fee-for-service, where they can pick their own dentist on an ongoing basis.

Mandatory has not been continuous. From 1 December 2023 until 30 June 2025 any Sacramento member could leave for fee-for-service, because DHCS said the plans were not meeting quality standards. See the timeline.

Opt in

Los Angeles County

Prepaid Health Plan (PHP). Dental managed care in Los Angeles County is voluntary. DHCS set it up so that members had the option of an HMO-style plan as an alternative to fee-for-service.

You have to opt in. If you do nothing, you stay in regular Medi-Cal Dental fee-for-service.

Los Angeles members choosing during the 2025 transition who made no selection were placed in fee-for-service by default.

To enroll, switch or ask which plan you are in, call Medi-Cal Health Care Options at 1-800-430-4263 (TTY 1-800-430-7077). This applies in both counties.

Sacramento County

Your three options

Geographic Managed Care. You must pick one of these three.

Continuing plan

Health Net Dental

Owned by Centene Corporation since 2016. In California since 1979.

(833) 493-0428TTY (800) 466-7566

Company profile
Continuing plan

Liberty Dental Plan

Founded by dentists in 2002. Serving Medi-Cal here since 2005.

(877) 550-3875TTY (877) 855-8039

Company profile
New in 2025

California Dental Network (DentaQuest)

Trades as DentaQuest. Owned by Sun Life Financial. Joined the roster in July 2025.

(833) 479-1984TTY (800) 466-7566

Company profile

Los Angeles County

Your three options

Prepaid Health Plan. These are available only if you opt in. Doing nothing keeps you in fee-for-service.

Continuing plan

Health Net Dental

Owned by Centene Corporation since 2016. In California since 1979.

(844) 233-4522TTY (800) 466-7566

Company profile
Continuing plan

Liberty Dental Plan

Founded by dentists in 2002. Serving Medi-Cal here since 2005.

(888) 703-6999TTY (855) 855-8039

Company profile
New in 2025

California Dental Network (DentaQuest)

Trades as DentaQuest. Owned by Sun Life Financial. Joined the roster in July 2025.

(855) 388-6257TTY (800) 466-7566

Company profile

Who you are actually dealing with

The companies behind the plans

Every figure and date below comes from the company, its parent, or DHCS. Sources are listed at the foot of this page.

Health Net Dental

Contracted entity: Health Net of California, Inc.

Founded
1979
Headquarters
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
Owner
Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC)
Owned since
24 March 2016

Health Net is the oldest name on this list and the only one that started in California. It grew into one of the state's large managed care organizations, and today reports more than 117,000 network providers and more than three million members across California.

In March 2016, Centene Corporation completed a 6.8 billion dollar acquisition of Health Net, Inc. Health Net became a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene and stopped trading as a public company. Centene described the deal at the time as creating the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the country. So the plan a Sacramento member is required to choose from is now a business unit of a St. Louis based Fortune 500 company.

Health Net holds contracts in both counties: a Geographic Managed Care contract in Sacramento and a Prepaid Health Plan contract in Los Angeles. It was one of the two plans that carried over unchanged through the July 2025 transition.

Sacramento members

(833) 493-0428 TTY (800) 466-7566

Los Angeles members

(844) 233-4522 TTY (800) 466-7566

Liberty Dental Plan

Contracted entity: Liberty Dental Plan of California, Inc.

Founded
2002
Headquarters
Tustin, California
Owner
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (majority) with Elevance Health at 40%
In Medi-Cal DMC since
2005

Liberty was founded in 2002 by dentists and health industry professionals, and it is the only one of the three that is not a subsidiary of a health insurance company. It administers dental benefits in all fifty states and reports more than seven million Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, commercial and exchange members.

Liberty has held the California Medi-Cal dental managed care business since 2005, which makes it the longest continuously serving plan of the three. On 8 October 2024 it announced that DHCS had re-awarded its dental managed care contract covering both Sacramento and Los Angeles counties, on a multi-year term that went live in July 2025.

Like Health Net, Liberty carried over through the 2025 transition. Members already enrolled with it were not moved.

Not being a subsidiary is not the same as being independent, and Liberty is often taken for the independent choice. Its ultimate parent is Project Freedom Holdings, LLC. The private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe holds the majority, and Elevance Health, the insurer behind Anthem Blue Cross, owns 40%, an investment it made in January 2023. Elevance also holds options that could let it buy out the majority owners in 2026 and 2027. See who backs each plan.

Sacramento members

(877) 550-3875 TTY/TDD (877) 855-8039

Los Angeles members

(888) 703-6999 TTY/TDD (855) 855-8039

California Dental Network (DentaQuest) New in 2025

Contracted entity: California Dental Network, Inc., doing business as DentaQuest

Trades as
DentaQuest
California base
Irvine, California
Owner
Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX and NYSE: SLF)
Owned since
1 June 2022

This is the newest name on the roster and the one worth reading the fine print on. The entity holding the DHCS contract is California Dental Network, Inc. (DentaQuest), a Knox-Keene licensed plan based in Irvine. It trades under the DentaQuest brand and is part of the DentaQuest family of companies.

DentaQuest itself was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Boston. On 1 June 2022, Sun Life Financial completed its acquisition of DentaQuest from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, a United States nonprofit, and from Centerbridge Partners, a private investment firm. At the time of the sale DentaQuest reported more than 33 million members across 36 states and more than 2,400 employees, and Sun Life described it as the largest provider of Medicaid dental benefits in the country.

California Dental Network (DentaQuest) joined the Medi-Cal roster on 1 July 2025, taking the slot vacated by Access Dental Plan. That means members who had been with Access had to move, and in Sacramento County that move was not optional.

New to Medi-Cal is not the same as new. The company has been a licensed California dental plan for decades, under license number 933 0286, and it used to be called Alternative Dental Care of Calif., Inc. That is not our description. It is how the regulator addressed the company in the enforcement letter behind the 95,000 dollar fine, and the earliest fine on its public list dates from 2006. It has sold dental coverage in this state, and been fined by the regulator for how it did so, since long before it had a Medi-Cal contract. What changed in July 2025 is that Medi-Cal members were added to it. We keep those two records apart on the ledger, because they are not the same thing.

Sacramento members

(833) 479-1984 TTY/TDD (800) 466-7566

Los Angeles members

(855) 388-6257 TTY/TDD (800) 466-7566

Before you choose

Two of these three plans are run by the same administrator. See who actually runs each plan and what changed in July 2025.

How we got here

Thirty years of a pilot

  1. 1995

    Following a change in state law, DHCS implements dental managed care to explore how effective it is as a delivery system. Fee-for-service had been the exclusive model in all fifty-eight counties.

  2. 2005

    Liberty Dental Plan begins serving the California Medi-Cal dental managed care business, a run that is still going.

  3. March 2016

    Centene Corporation completes its 6.8 billion dollar acquisition of Health Net, Inc. Health Net becomes a wholly owned subsidiary and is no longer publicly traded.

  4. June 2022

    Sun Life Financial completes its acquisition of DentaQuest from the nonprofit CareQuest Institute for Oral Health and private investment firm Centerbridge Partners.

  5. 1 December 2023

    DHCS lets Sacramento members leave dental managed care for fee-for-service. Its own presentation to members gives the reason in plain words: the managed care plan did not meet acceptable standards for quality of services, and the example it offers is the standard for making sure members received cavity prevention. The exit is temporary by design. Members can stay in fee-for-service only until DHCS buys new plans.

  6. October 2024

    Liberty announces that DHCS has re-awarded its dental managed care contract for both counties, on a multi-year term starting July 2025.

  7. 20 June 2025

    Deadline for affected members to choose. Sacramento members who did not choose were assigned a plan. Los Angeles members who did not choose were placed in fee-for-service.

  8. 1 July 2025

    The current roster takes effect. Access Dental Plan is discontinued. California Dental Network, trading as DentaQuest, joins Health Net and Liberty in both counties. Sacramento resumes mandatory enrollment, in DHCS's own word, so the members who had moved to fee-for-service have to pick a managed care plan again.

Common questions

Questions we keep getting

Answers here are sourced from DHCS. This section is still being expanded.

Do I have to join a dental managed care plan?

It depends entirely on your county. In Sacramento County enrollment is mandatory, with few exceptions, and you must select one of the three plans. In Los Angeles County it is voluntary. You have to opt in, and if you do nothing you stay in fee-for-service.

Are the covered benefits different from regular Medi-Cal Dental?

No. DHCS states that covered dental services provided by managed care plans are the same services provided under the fee-for-service program, as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code section 14132(h) and Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, section 51059.

What does change is the network. Under managed care you have to use dentists inside your plan's provider network.

Can I get out of a plan in Sacramento County?

There is a formal route called a Beneficiary Dental Exception, or BDE. It lets a member request to opt out of a Medi-Cal dental managed care plan and move into fee-for-service, where they may select their own dentist on an ongoing basis. DHCS publishes the instructions on the Medi-Cal Dental BDE page.

What happened to Access Dental Plan?

Access Dental Plan was discontinued as a Medi-Cal dental managed care plan on 1 July 2025. Its place on the roster was taken by California Dental Network, trading as DentaQuest. Members enrolled with Access had to move to another plan, or, in Los Angeles County only, to fee-for-service.

Who regulates these plans, and who do I complain to?

All Medi-Cal dental managed care plans are licensed by the California Department of Managed Health Care under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975. The DMHC Help Center number for members is 1-888-466-2219.

For questions about which plan you are in or to change plans, call Medi-Cal Health Care Options at 1-800-430-4263 (TTY 1-800-430-7077).

How are the plans paid?

A flat monthly amount for each member, whether that member uses their dental benefit or not. The industry word for it is capitation. DHCS states that each dental plan receives a negotiated monthly per capita rate from the state for every recipient enrolled in that plan, and that payment does not depend on whether the member receives any dental care that month.

Show your work

Sources

Everything stated as fact on this page traces to one of these. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.

  1. California Department of Health Care Services, Medi-Cal Dental Managed Care. Program history, county scope, enrollment rules, Knox-Keene licensing.
  2. Medi-Cal Dental, Dental Managed Care (DMC) Overview. Capitation payment model, GMC and PHP definitions, benefit parity with fee-for-service.
  3. DHCS, Managed Care Plan Directory. Contracted plan names and member contact numbers for both counties.
  4. DHCS, Dental Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan Transition. July 2025 roster change, choice deadline, default assignment rules.
  5. Centene Corporation, Centene Completes Acquisition Of Health Net, 24 March 2016.
  6. Liberty Dental Plan, contract award announcement, 8 October 2024. Founding year, scale, and the 2005 start date in California.
  7. Sun Life Financial, Sun Life completes acquisition of DentaQuest, 1 June 2022.
  8. Medi-Cal Dental, Beneficiary Dental Exception.
  9. Medi-Cal Dental, Dental Managed Care Option to Switch to Dental Fee-For-Service for Sacramento County Residents, October 2023. The reason DHCS gave members for opening the exit: the plan did not meet acceptable standards for quality of services.
  10. DHCS, All Plan Letter 25-003, Transition Policy Guide. Sacramento resumes mandatory enrollment effective 1 July 2025.

Been moved, denied or left on hold?

If your plan changed in 2025, or you cannot get an appointment inside your network, we want to hear about it.

Tell us what happened