Delta Dental of Kansas
Legal name: Delta Dental of Kansas Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 480793267
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Wichita, KS, United States
- Phone
- 1-800-234-3375
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $344,034,317
- Expenses
- $343,351,733
- Assets
- $116,239,879
- Liabilities
- $15,683,937
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
22 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Dean Newton (President and CEO)
- Stephen Peppes (Vice President of Sales)
Highest reported compensation
- Dean Newton (President and CEO): $823,145 total reported compensation
- Bryce Dougherty (CFO/Treasurer): $418,604 total reported compensation
- Stephen Peppes (Vice President of Sales): $418,376 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
In 1972, Delta Dental of Kansas (DDKS) was formed by an act of the Kansas legislature. The purpose was to provide a not-for-profit vehicle for providing professionally sponsored dental care programs to groups in Kansas. From those early years, Delta Dental of Kansas has grown to be the largest dental carrier in the state. As a member of the Delta Dental Plans Association, a national network of dental service corporations, we share in the role of being the largest dental carrier in the country. Delta Dental of Kansas is based in Wichita, KS, with a sales office in Leawood, KS. Our Mission Excellence. Service. Value. Making a difference for our constituents, communities and employees.
What it reported doing in 2024
Dental benefits (covered charges) provided to subscribers. Delta Dental served approximately 943,229 people this year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 93.6%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 93.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $321.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $823K · 22 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.1M reported
- Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 49 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 28 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.