Artemis Windsong
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The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Apr 11, 2018 14:24:29 GMT -5
Mrs. Dinero's thread on dental costs started my thinking of insurance.
Does anyone buy dental insurance?
How is the coverage, if you have used it?
Is it worth the cost?
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Apr 11, 2018 17:11:20 GMT -5
Mrs. Dinero's thread on dental costs started my thinking of insurance. Does anyone buy dental insurance? How is the coverage, if you have used it? Is it worth the cost? When I worked, I had dental insurance along with medical and eye care. Now retired, I continue to have dental insurance. Fortunately, I have not needed any expensive dental care. I just have the two allotted teeth cleanings twice a year. The insurance covers part of the cost of the cleaning.
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Artemis Windsong
Senior Associate
The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:32:12 GMT -5
Posts: 12,326
Today's Mood: Twinkling
Location: Wishing Star
Favorite Drink: Fresh, clean cold bottled water.
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Apr 11, 2018 17:51:27 GMT -5
I have a friend who has applied for dental insurance.
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justme
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Post by justme on Apr 11, 2018 17:54:49 GMT -5
Only through work. My part of it ends up being a little cheaper than if I paid for cleanings outright. So any help it gives me for other stuff is gravy.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Apr 11, 2018 20:29:23 GMT -5
The insurance company will set it up so that they make money in the long run. It is almost always better to self insure, except in cases of large losses (life insurance, home insurance, car insurance where required).
If dental insurance is subsidized by your employer, it is usually a pretty good deal. Otherwise you will likely pay out more than you get back.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Apr 11, 2018 20:35:52 GMT -5
My small business was told we had to provide dental coverage to employees due to the ACA. It costs just under $10.00 a month per employee. I probably collect about $120.00 a year overall. So, a wash. It paid nothing for a crown.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Apr 12, 2018 6:18:02 GMT -5
I have Delta Dental through my employer. My employer is only chipping in about $5 per month, while I am paying $60 per month for family coverage. If we both get cleanings and x-rays twice a year we will come out slightly behind compared to paying out of pocket, however I have a mouth full of crowns and the insurance has saved me thousands.
DH has perfect teeth and paying for insurance is probably a losing proposition, but it forces him to get his teeth cleaned twice a year or he knows he is throwing money away. When I added him to my insurance he hadn't been to the dentist in 10 years and it took 2 years of wasted premiums before I threatened to cut him out of the insurance and he went in for his first cleaning.
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Artemis Windsong
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The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Apr 12, 2018 7:13:20 GMT -5
That sounds like my H. about not going to dentist for years. He got on it when his insurance was ending because of retirement. The insurance was fully paid by employer. Oh for those wonderful days! Fully paid insurance premiums.
My friend sees a lot of work coming up. Apparently cavities can form under the crowns.
I am self-insured. I did have crowns done to get ride of huge fillings. So far I haven't needed any more work.
My friend's premiums will be $30 with 3 month wait before using it.
Another friend who had implants when they first came out ended up having her jaws rebuilt.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Apr 12, 2018 9:31:22 GMT -5
My small business was told we had to provide dental coverage to employees due to the ACA. It costs just under $10.00 a month per employee. I probably collect about $120.00 a year overall. So, a wash. It paid nothing for a crown. Hmm, we don't have dental insurance where I work, I wonder if we are subject to ACA yet (We were adjusting the policy end date for years so that we could avoid being subject to ACA). ETA. We have 17 or 18 employees, so we are under the 50 threshold. Company pays full cost of family coverage, but no dental coverage.
DH is an insurance agent, he gets no "Major Medical benefits" but we can buy vision and dental insurance at a group rate. We buy both. Everyone in the family wears glasses/contacts and I do feel the dental coverage saves us some money. I felt the Self pay rates the dentist charged were way above the URC rates you get when you have insurance coverage. The Dentist would give me a 10% discount for self pay. People always talk about negotiating, but I guess I am a total failure at that.
So for vision the plan is through VSP. It costs $37.97/month. We can only get glasses every other year, but the kids can get contacts every year. Some people drop the plan on the off years. $455/yr. Covers 4 of us.
Dental is more. $133.41/month for the 4 of us. We have an annual maximum of 1,000 per person with a $50 deductible. It covers Diagnostic & preventive services at 90%, Basic Services Cavity, Fillings, Periodontal Scaling & root planning at 60%, Crowns dentures & root canals & surgical extractions at 50% and orthodontic services at 50%.
A procedure for my son, that the submitted a fee of $976 for, was approved by the insurance. Their cost $238.2, ours $208.80.
When I got a crown last year, They billed $2037, Member rate was $1115. Deductible was $64 co insurance $386.
DD got braces before she turned 19. I think they paid $1,000 of that. I think they may have paid a little more if she had not been almost 19 when she got them (ie. if it had been spread out over more than 1 year.
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Artemis Windsong
Senior Associate
The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:32:12 GMT -5
Posts: 12,326
Today's Mood: Twinkling
Location: Wishing Star
Favorite Drink: Fresh, clean cold bottled water.
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Apr 12, 2018 19:48:05 GMT -5
The self-pay people don't get much of a discount. But the insured do. Go figure.
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justme
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Post by justme on Apr 12, 2018 20:04:50 GMT -5
My small business was told we had to provide dental coverage to employees due to the ACA. It costs just under $10.00 a month per employee. I probably collect about $120.00 a year overall. So, a wash. It paid nothing for a crown. Hmm, we don't have dental insurance where I work, I wonder if we are subject to ACA yet (We were adjusting the policy end date for years so that we could avoid being subject to ACA). ETA. We have 17 or 18 employees, so we are under the 50 threshold. Company pays full cost of family coverage, but no dental coverage.
DH is an insurance agent, he gets no "Major Medical benefits" but we can buy vision and dental insurance at a group rate. We buy both. Everyone in the family wears glasses/contacts and I do feel the dental coverage saves us some money. I felt the Self pay rates the dentist charged were way above the URC rates you get when you have insurance coverage. The Dentist would give me a 10% discount for self pay. People always talk about negotiating, but I guess I am a total failure at that.
So for vision the plan is through VSP. It costs $37.97/month. We can only get glasses every other year, but the kids can get contacts every year. Some people drop the plan on the off years. $455/yr. Covers 4 of us.
Dental is more. $133.41/month for the 4 of us. We have an annual maximum of 1,000 per person with a $50 deductible. It covers Diagnostic & preventive services at 90%, Basic Services Cavity, Fillings, Periodontal Scaling & root planning at 60%, Crowns dentures & root canals & surgical extractions at 50% and orthodontic services at 50%.
A procedure for my son, that the submitted a fee of $976 for, was approved by the insurance. Their cost $238.2, ours $208.80.
When I got a crown last year, They billed $2037, Member rate was $1115. Deductible was $64 co insurance $386.
DD got braces before she turned 19. I think they paid $1,000 of that. I think they may have paid a little more if she had not been almost 19 when she got them (ie. if it had been spread out over more than 1 year.
I dropped vsp through my work. It was almost 182 per year for just me, but I still had $20 copay for exam and $20 towards materials so minimum of $240 a year! Given I prefer antiglare glasses I was usually paying $100+ the glasses year and $60+ for the lens year on top of that. For contacts the exam cost took up most of the money they give me for it! I discovered America's best will give you three years of contacts exams up to three a year for $99 plus a discount on contacts. And I use zenni for glasses and they only charge like $25 for blue light filter antiglare. I get daily disposables from them for $55 for a 90 pack. For $300 I can get a few glasses/sunglasses a year and a couple boxes of contacts. The family plan might be a better deal, but what I found is definitely cheaper for just me!
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bean29
Junior Associate
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Post by bean29 on Apr 12, 2018 20:08:45 GMT -5
Hmm, we don't have dental insurance where I work, I wonder if we are subject to ACA yet (We were adjusting the policy end date for years so that we could avoid being subject to ACA). ETA. We have 17 or 18 employees, so we are under the 50 threshold. Company pays full cost of family coverage, but no dental coverage.
DH is an insurance agent, he gets no "Major Medical benefits" but we can buy vision and dental insurance at a group rate. We buy both. Everyone in the family wears glasses/contacts and I do feel the dental coverage saves us some money. I felt the Self pay rates the dentist charged were way above the URC rates you get when you have insurance coverage. The Dentist would give me a 10% discount for self pay. People always talk about negotiating, but I guess I am a total failure at that.
So for vision the plan is through VSP. It costs $37.97/month. We can only get glasses every other year, but the kids can get contacts every year. Some people drop the plan on the off years. $455/yr. Covers 4 of us.
Dental is more. $133.41/month for the 4 of us. We have an annual maximum of 1,000 per person with a $50 deductible. It covers Diagnostic & preventive services at 90%, Basic Services Cavity, Fillings, Periodontal Scaling & root planning at 60%, Crowns dentures & root canals & surgical extractions at 50% and orthodontic services at 50%.
A procedure for my son, that the submitted a fee of $976 for, was approved by the insurance. Their cost $238.2, ours $208.80.
When I got a crown last year, They billed $2037, Member rate was $1115. Deductible was $64 co insurance $386.
DD got braces before she turned 19. I think they paid $1,000 of that. I think they may have paid a little more if she had not been almost 19 when she got them (ie. if it had been spread out over more than 1 year.
I dropped vsp through my work. It was almost 182 per year for just me, but I still had $20 copay for exam and $20 towards materials so minimum of $240 a year! Given I prefer antiglare glasses I was usually paying $100+ the glasses year and $60+ for the lens year on top of that. For contacts the exam cost took up most of the money they give me for it! I discovered America's best will give you three years of contacts exams up to three a year for $99 plus a discount on contacts. And I use zenni for glasses and they only charge like $25 for blue light filter antiglare. I get daily disposables from them for $55 for a 90 pack. For $300 I can get a few glasses/sunglasses a year and a couple boxes of contacts. The family plan might be a better deal, but what I found is definitely cheaper for just me! I have very Bad vision/wear bifocals. I think it is worth it. But my Puppy just Ate DH’s new glasses. I may try Zenni for him. We have Americas Best in our city too. Thanks
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