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With a $1000 cap? Not much good; you can get better rates by paying with a credit card and making payments at 9% interest over a 6-month period to pay it off in full.
Not all plans have a $1000 cap. Mine, for instance, has no cap. We pay $12/month for two of us (that's $6 each). It's an 50/50 plan with no deductible, and preventative dental maintenence is included at 100% coverage.
So - I get yearly cleaning, x-rays every other year, at no out of pocket expense to myself.
If I need a root canal, it's covered at 50%. Extraction - 50%. Full set of dentures is included for my first set, if I ever need it. Bridges are covered at 50% but crowns and implants are not covered at all. Scaling is covered at 50%. Oral surgery isn't covered, but it -is- covered on my medical insurance. Braces for kids under 16 are covered at 50% including monthly adjustments for up to 6 months.
So as you can see, some dental insurance is very well worth the cost. You just have to look around for the plan that suits your needs. You might find that your needs are not as significant as any coverage available. But that doesn't mean it's worthless. It's just worthless to you, specifically.
With a $1000 cap? Not much good; you can get better rates by paying with a credit card and making payments at 9% interest over a 6-month period to pay it off in full.
Not all plans have a $1000 cap. Mine, for instance, has no cap. We pay $12/month for two of us (that's $6 each). It's an 50/50 plan with no deductible, and preventative dental maintenence is included at 100% coverage.
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Who is your provider? I have wondered about doing a dental plan AND dental insurance, but don't know if it would be worth it or not. I can't really ask at the dentist's office because I don't think my saving money is high on their list. There is also care credit that people can look into, which I guess is like a credit card but lets you pay off like a 6 month same as cash thing. CareCredit® Dental Financing for Dentistry and Dental Procedures (Finance Teeth Whitening, Tooth Filling, Root Canals & More) I haven't applied yet, but a friend of mine has it to help with her husband's dental issues.
The place we go seems to have a revolving door of dentists, which I am getting sick of. I have periodontal disease, and looking at my chart is not the same thing as seeing ME when it is time for an exam, seeing the damage from visit to visit. It just seems like this is all about making money and they don't understand, because they don't have anything to do with the billing department.
We get ours through my husband's employment. They, in turn, provide their employees with some of the best health care in the country. The regular medical insurance is ours at no cost to the entire household, other than the co-pays. Dental is eh...if it had a cap I'd tell husband to discontinue ours. It's worth it to us, given our particular dental needs, because it has no cap.
We have a dental discount plan (not insurance) through Aetna, called Vital Savings. It generally saves us 40-50% off cleanings and procedures. For example, I paid $66.00 to have a wisdom tooth removed recently. In some cases, it saves more than our old dental plan, because there is no cap.
Our dentist recommended it. Because it is through Aetna, it hasn't been difficult finding a provider. As a bonus it also gives us a vision discount.
You can sign up online with no waiting period. We pay $125.00/year for a family of 4.
Where I live many people pay cash as all tooth-related things are excluded from regular health insurance
But I did get myself a separate insurance/plan today, 90 Euros (around $120) per year, no waiting period and many basic things such as extractions, preventive stuff, polishing, x-rays, etc. are free, with more expensive tasks I would have to pay quite a lot, but still less than if I paid cash. Using my new card an all-ceramics crown for instance would cost me about $450.
I opted for the Liberty Mutual card because they support a dental clinic in my small town, but all those cards seem to offer almost identical features and prices no matter which insurer.
A 50/50 plan is nothing to write home about when you consider restoration
work can run into the several thousands of dollars.
I can remember when Delta Dental covered 80/20 for major dental work
way back in the day.
And you could set up a payment plan for the balance.
Then they went to 70/30 coverage...then 60%.
Now everybody covers at 50%.
And most dentists won't bill you anymore.
They want any remaining balance up front and in full.
A pretty stiff fare on a 50/50 plan unless yer a 1%'er.
Health care has gone from bad to worse in this country.
There is definitely something to be said for socialized medicine.
Yeah, those were the days. We had Travlers insurance both for medical and dental. Ours was 80%-20%too. My dentist let me pay my bill off monthly too. My teeth were in excellent condition and I never missed my appointments. I didn't have to make a choice if my teeth work would be done or health problems looked at--or even choosing if it is going to be or my pet being able to go to the vet if needed. My children had regular dental and Dr. appointments---life was good then. Maybe the dentists bills just started costing the insurance companies to much or maybe as many of us here have complained so many dentist add on unneeded extras--just got to greedy. The insurance companies couldn't keep up either I guess. Even with the medical cost so high I can see how the companies are looking for a way out....another reason so many compaines are hiring part time employees--no benefits like health or dental insurance required then. There is no reason for a country like the United States to have such poor health care coverage for it's citizens. Just bad management in our government.
I'm loosing my dental insurance soon and discussed it with the staff, they told me private dental insurance wasn't worth it and even the one I have now through an employer has a $1500 cap. I'll just keep that much into savings and insure myself. I've always been proactive about my teeth so unless something drastic happens I shouldn't ever need a ton of work done at any one time.
Sometimes the dentist himself is to blame.
A dentist I went to a few years back told me I had
substantial decay and needed crowns, root canals, etc.
Even tho I was having no symptoms whatsoever.
Suspicious, I went to my wife's dentist for a second opinion.
They took a full set of x-rays and only found two small
cavities that required minor fillings.
And I had no other problems for quite some time afterward.
This practice of overbilling your insurance for unneeded
services has driven insurance costs up and caused
coverage ratios to fall sharply.
We've seen the same scam from doctors.
They need to audit these guys annually to make
sure they're on the up & up.
Sometimes the dentist himself is to blame.
A dentist I went to a few years back told me I had
substantial decay and needed crowns, root canals, etc.
Even tho I was having no symptoms whatsoever.
Suspicious, I went to my wife's dentist for a second opinion.
They took a full set of x-rays and only found two small
cavities that required minor fillings.
And I had no other problems for quite some time afterward.
This practice of overbilling your insurance for unneeded
services has driven insurance costs up and caused
coverage ratios to fall sharply.
We've seen the same scam from doctors.
They need to audit these guys annually to make
sure they're on the up & up.
Yep--pretty much what I said. The insurance companies aren't run by a bunch of dummies! And this didn't happen overnight! I feel like you, one dentist got away with scamming an insurance company and one more then one more and finally the insurance companies said enough! Now those same dishonest, greedy dentist are trying their best to pull the same thing with the uninsured people--well folks--if we don't have the money to get all that work done we just don't have it. And before I put it all on a credit card or get a loan to get the work I supposedly need to get done I will get a second opinion--believe me! Maybe eventually these dishonest dentist and Dr.s will figure this out??? Now I am in no way saying all dentist or Dr's are dishonest or greedy but it only takes a few to make it miserable for everyone! The sad part is the prices have already had to go up because of this and now even the most honest dentist is often very hard to afford. But at least he earns what he makes! More audits would be a good thing but now to afford those audits--and of course there will be those who will pay off those doing the audits--same old thing.
Last edited by cynwldkat; 02-19-2012 at 11:02 AM..
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Even with the medical cost so high I can see how the companies are looking for a way out....another reason so many compaines are hiring part time employees--no benefits like health or dental insurance required then. There is no reason for a country like the United States to have such poor health care coverage for it's citizens. Just bad management in our government.
