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I am not sure if what I am going to ask would fly with insurance companies, but I wanted to get advice.
Just turned 65, have Medicare and Medigap insurance and looking at dental insurance. I do not have any problem with my teeth and go to a dentist every 6 months faithfully. My question is that if I apply for insurance before my appointment, get coverage, then cancel a month after the appointment, then re-apply a month before my next appointment, then cancel after so that in effect, I would be paying for 2-4 months worth of premiums for the year instead of 12.
Would this work or would the insurance company or companies deny me?
I am not sure if what I am going to ask would fly with insurance companies, but I wanted to get advice.
Just turned 65, have Medicare and Medigap insurance and looking at dental insurance. I do not have any problem with my teeth and go to a dentist every 6 months faithfully. My question is that if I apply for insurance before my appointment, get coverage, then cancel a month after the appointment, then re-apply a month before my next appointment, then cancel after so that in effect, I would be paying for 2-4 months worth of premiums for the year instead of 12.
Would this work or would the insurance company or companies deny me?
They'll probably catch on and refuse to cover your claims. Be sure to read the terms of any dental policies carefully. They might require you to be covered for a minimum period of time prior to submitting claims. I don't know as I've never done such a thing. Defrauding other people doesn't seem like a great way to save yourself money.
Another option is to check with the dentist you'd be using to see if they take cash patients. No insurance required. Sometimes billing directly for cash can be less expensive.
Last edited by Parnassia; 08-07-2023 at 03:47 PM..
Another option is to check with the dentist you'd be using to see if they take cash patients. No insurance required. Sometimes billing directly for cash paying customers can be less expensive.
Every dentist is going to take cash patients.. The question they want to ask is whether they provide a DISCOUNT to cash patients.
TBH.. Most of what I've seen.. Dental insurance is rarely worthwhile. I'm not recommending anything here, but what I've done in the past was to get one of the dental discount plans. dentalplans.com you can search a bunch of them and see what your dentist accepts.
MOST TIMES.. The 'discount' you get is about what insurance would have covered, and those plans generally only run about $150/year, which is generally less than dental insurance.
Worst part of dental insurance is when you do need a crown or something and you still wind up a massive amount out of pocket. Either because of low coverage or because many of them have like a $1000 yearly limit.
Is nice if your insurance totally covers your checkups/cleanings, tho.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Most of the dental insurance companies have a waiting period of 6,12, or 24 months for major dental work, such as crowns, bridges, and dentures. Those are the procedures that you need the insurance for, an annual cleaning is not very expensive compared to a $1,000 crown or $4,000 implant. They are well prepared to handle such tactics as you are proposing.
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