VA awards Optum Serve 10-year contract up to $30 billion to manage community care dental network

Optum Serve will be the dental care administrator that will build, manage and maintain a robust national network of licensed dental providers and practitioners. The network is scheduled to be fully implemented within a year of the contract award and will include general and specialty dental care, preventive dental services and pharmacy support. Additional award information is available at SAM.gov.

The contract was negotiated under VA’s next generation Community Care contract structure, which is aimed at delivering more choices for Veterans and ensuring VA has the proper oversight and accountability over how care is delivered in the community. Under that structure, the new dental contract will:

• Give Veterans access to a single, broad, national network of community dental providers, including both general and specialty care. 
• Provide Veterans with more consistent, reliable and high-quality dental care across the country.
• Strengthen VA’s ability to oversee and streamline community dental services to better serve Veterans.

VA’s community care program enables Veterans to access healthcare from non-VA medical providers at the department’s expense. Community care has been an integral part of caring for Veterans since the World War II era. In 2018, President Trump enshrined this right for Veterans by signing the bipartisan MISSION Act. Today, about 40% of all VA care is provided through community care.

Of the nearly nine million Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, approximately 26% are eligible for dental care. In fiscal year 2025 alone, 888,051 Veterans received dental care through VA, with more than 3.5 million dental procedures delivered through community care.