Dental Insurance or a Dental Discount Plan?
Hi, and thanks for contacting me.
Yes, you are in a difficult situation when shopping for dental coverage and there are no really great solutions to your problem. Wish I could be a bit more positive in my response to you but the reality is that it’s complicated.
As to the dental questions just a couple of brief comments.
While a full time student can usually be covered up to the 23rd birthday, the 23rd birthday is typically the absolute cutoff. Your child needs to consider her own individual plan by her 23rd birthday.
Your 12 year old needs braces soon? Some plans will cover orthodontics but you cannot assume that every plan does so. Plans that cover orthodontics will have waiting periods of a year or more before you derive any orthodontic benefits from any insurance plan.
All things considered then, the next question for you to address is whether you have an allegiance to a specific dentist. Are you set in your mind that you just HAVE to go to good old doctor “X”? If so, then you need a general indemnity policy in order to have that freedom and you will have to live with the tight upper limits of coverage.
If you are comfortable going to any competent neighborhood dentist then your best bet is probably a discount plan. The annual premiums are a lot less compared to insurance and there will be no waiting periods for utilizing benefits such as orthodontics. But, you do have to work with their list of participating dentists. In spite of the general joy many of us have in sharing with others the absolute pain and agony that we experienced going to Dr. Soandso, the reality is that all dentists are well trained and licensed. Whoever you pick will likely do a good job for you and your family.
Consider three possibilities:
- Call a few dentists in your area. Speak with the office manager. Ask what dental discount plans they work with. Buy a membership in one of those plans and/or
- Email me your zip code. I’ll email you information on some plans available where you live. Examine the offerings, go over the list of participating dentists in the discount plans, call a couple of dentists in your area to verify that they still participate with that discount plan. Buy the discount plan. Lower annual cost and no waiting periods for pre-existing conditions.
- Or, focus on the coverage rather than the dentist. Look over the specifics in the few plans that I can send you summaries on once I have your zip code. Buy an insurance policy and then you can pick your own dentist. Price shop the dentists in your area once your coverage begins. Don’t be afraid to ask for prices. Unlike other fields price does not necessarily equate with quality, rather it’s a factor of the cost of doing business in a particular zip code. It’s their business overhead which drives prices more than anything. Are you willing to drive two miles further in order to save 20%? Call for prices. Make them compete for your business. It really is a business. Very few dentists can afford to offer charity. Since they are thinking profit then you can think savings.
-
Jim