Dental and Vision Care in Early Retirement

[DawgSavr]

Good morning. This subject has likely many threads on it, unfortunately I have had very little success in finding the information. Perhaps my newness to the blog and my inexperience of searching for specific criteria was too broad. In any event, as I look to retire by year end. We are 58/57 respectively. I am curious as to how folks handle dental and vision care for you and significant others. I will not have retiree health, dental or vision options post my retirement and will be funding entirely on our own. I have an HSA but curious if you purchased dental or vision insurance plans, used a Dental Savings Plan with your dentist or just self funded as needed. Appreciate your insight and experiences!

 

[youbet]

Self-funded. Individual vision and dental plans do not generally seem to be very good deals since they have such low annual maximums and therefore aren't really "insurance."

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Good morning. This subject has likely many threads on it, unfortunately I have had very little success in finding the information. Perhaps my newness to the blog and my inexperience of searching for specific criteria was too broad. In any event, as I look to retire by year end. We are 58/57 respectively. I am curious at to how folks handle dental and vision care for you and significant others. I will not have retiree health, dental or vision options post my retirement and will be funding entirely on our own. I have an HSA but curious if you purchased dental or vision insurance plans, used a Dental Savings Plan with your dentist or just self funded as needed. Appreciate your insight and experiences!

During my first 2 years of early retirement, I signed up for a dental insurance plan via the ACA health insurance process (using healthcare.gov). I paid about $26 per month. The coverage is very limited. It did indeed give me a reduction in what I had to pay the dentist, but really not much. It had a max of $1000 (or maybe $1500) in benefit and a $60 deductible, I think. For basic preventive cleanings and checkups it covered that (after deductible), but anything else it would only pay 50% or so. I do forget the exact details. In the end, I considered it a break even insurance, at best.

I decided to ask my dentist's office if there was a better alternative. I figured they might indicate a "cash price" might be just as good. They directed me to buy a simple dental discount card with either Aetna or one other company that I now can't recall. So I looked into it. I ended up paying $95 for one year of the discount card with Aetna. It basically gets me the same discount on procedure rates that the insurance did. There is no deductible. There is no max benefit. Essentially, the dentist just discounts everything to a lower rate. There is no claim created or processed by the dentist.

I think I'll stick with this discount card.

This is the one I chose.
https://www.aetnavitalsavings.com/

For Vision, I just self fund. I pay for the eye exam to get the prescription. Then I order glasses online at zenni.com.

 

[RunningBum]

Self-funded. Individual vision and dental plans do not generally seem to be very good deals since they have such low annual maximums and therefore aren't really "insurance."

+1. Unless it gives you a better negotiated rate with your dentist and eye doctor to cover the premiums. I'm more interested in insuring against catastrophic expenses than smaller predictable expenses.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

costco sells dental plans online (or they used to). Seemed decent. for vision would depend on how big your needs are. my exams are covered under my regular medical insurance and I order my glasses online freom Zenni. 100percent of my friends "couldnt possibly order their glasses online." I think this may be insecurity or vanity or something for simple prescriptions. WHatever not my problem. Lots of choices and $30 a pair? Fine by me. Even my eye dr was like dont update your glasses this soon when I went in to get checked and had a small change in Rx. And i said why? and he said expense. I was like $30? I think I can squeeze that. And he was like but then youll have $30 glasses. For reading in my chair? Yeah Im ok with that too.

BUt anyways if you have sophisticated glasses needs I still think you would do better shopping the specials locally than using insurance.

 

[bobandsherry]

Skip insurance, too many limits and doesn't return more than you pay.

For dental, my dentist told me this when I told him I was retiring early. Instead, look to get a dental plan, basically negotiated rates for in network dentists. Not every dentist is in their network, but I've had no problem finding a good dentist in my area. My plan is through Cigna, but bought it through DentalPlans.com, they aggregate several different plans. Each year I basically break even just in savings I get on the cleaning and exam every 6 months. It has saved me quite a bit of money when I had to get a crown and root canal. In the 6 years I've had the plan I've saved more than I pay, roughly $180 per year for me and my wife.

For vision, just pay out of pocket, found no plan that is really beneficial. Since having cataracts replaced I have very little need. My wife has contacts and we just shop for best deal online.

 

[Aerides]

Isn't it odd that our teeth and eyeballs aren't covered by medical insurance?

We have a dental savings plan with our dentist. It's equivalent in cost to two cleanings and exams per year, which we'd be paying for anyway, but then grants hefty discounts for crowns, etc.

Even when working, dental insurance was pretty lame. The annual cap I had was $1500, which mean anything big was gonna be on me.

I don't have any vision coverage but so far just need readers. DH has an annual exam following his lasik a dozen years ago, and just pays out of pocket for that.

 

[VanWinkle]

I kept company dental(Delta Dental of Wisconsin) for 25.87 per month which covers 100% of 2 cleanings per year, 50 ded on fillings and 50% coverage to 1500 on caps/root canals/major stuff. So far I am just about even on premium versus expenses.

 

[Dtail]

I get dental coverage through the ACA plans, but only worth about 500 net yearly.
On my own for vision.
Perhaps this will be changed through Medicare in the future.

 

[athena53]

I kept company dental(Delta Dental of Wisconsin) for 25.87 per month which covers 100% of 2 cleanings per year, 50 ded on fillings and 50% coverage to 1500 on caps/root canals/major stuff. So far I am just about even on premium versus expenses.

And that's why I haven't bought dental insurance. I get eye exams through Costco and get my glasses there or at zenni.com.

I get dental coverage through the ACA plans, but only worth about 500 net yearly.
On my own for vision.
Perhaps this will be changed through Medicare in the future.

That would be a very expensive (to the Medicare system) change unless it had the same narrow coverage as the plans already out there. Major dental work can be VERY expensive (ask me about my implants ) and there are franchises and unscrupulous dentists out there who push unnecessary treatments. Generous dental insurance through Medicare would be a gold mine for them.

 

[bolt]

I hope although these are dated they're also helpfull.

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/dental-costs-55496.html

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/budgeting-for-dental-costs-75724-3.html

Both multi-paged, ER.org dental cost focused threads.

Good luck & Best wishes....

 

[Cobra9777]

DW and I both have retiree health insurance through our former employers. Hers also offers vision for both of us at $9/mo. It pays for our annual exams plus DW gets a fairly large discount on her contacts. I also get a free pair of progressive glasses every other year through Warby Parker.

My insurance offers dental. We generally don't sign up during open enrollment, except in years where we know we have some expensive dental work coming. There's a Dental Plus option with a $2K max. We used it one year when DW needed to have her wisdom teeth pulled and I needed a gum graft. We've done that for two years in the eight that I've been retired, which has worked out well. Otherwise, we just pay cash for cleanings and our dentist gives us the same price.

 

[athena53]

My [employer's retiree] insurance offers dental. We generally don't sign up during open enrollment, except in years where we know we have some expensive dental work coming. There's a Dental Plus option with a $2K max. We used it one year when DW needed to have her wisdom teeth pulled and I needed a gum graft. We've done that for two years in the eight that I've been retired, which has worked out well. Otherwise, we just pay cash for cleanings and our dentist gives us the same price.

Very interesting. You wouldn't be able to do this with private dental insurance. They typically cover cleanings only for the first 6 to 12 months. That would have been true for me even though I'd had coverage through my employer up to retirement and had been getting regular dental care. So, that was an immediate deal-breaker- you were guaranteed to collect less than your premiums the first year. It was understandable that they didn't want people waiting to buy insurance till they knew they had expensive work coming up but they should waive that provision for people who have had continuous coverage.

 

[jollystomper]

Isn't it odd that our teeth and eyeballs aren't covered by medical insurance?

My guess is that, because almost everyone will experience issues with dental and vision in older age, there is not much profit to be made via insurance, as compared to plans that primarily serve to give discounts.

 

[Alan]

We skipped dental and eye insurance, but my retiree health insurance covered serious health problems such as root canal, detached retina, glaucoma etc.

Now living in England and it is a similar approach, dental and eyes are not covered by NHS unless it is serious enough, including cataract surgery.

 

[O2Bfree]

My dentist offers subscription plans where you pay a monthly amount for how ever many checkups and cleanings you want per year, with a discount, plus you get a discount on any extra work you need. Maybe there's someone with such a plan in your area.

 

[Bamaman]

We have Blue Cross Blue Shield Dental Insurance which is $33 a month with a $1500 maximum per year. Pretty standard policy for the industry. We seldom pay much out of pocket.

The vision appointments are often reasonable enough to pay out of pocket as long as you don't have any major issues. My wife and I are on Medicare, and they paid for her cataract surgery--and one pair of glasses.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I haven't bought a vision plan for a long time and recently spent $300 on 2 pairs of glasses at Costco. For dental, my private individual off-exchange plan has an add-on of something like $25 per month which covers 2 cleanings and $1500 maximum per year. I have been buying this add on but I haven't gone to a dentist since 2020 because I don't feel comfortable with potential COVID exposure with the hygenist breathing over me for an hour.

 

[GTFan]

During my first 2 years of early retirement, I signed up for a dental insurance plan via the ACA health insurance process (using healthcare.gov). I paid about $26 per month. The coverage is very limited. It did indeed give me a reduction in what I had to pay the dentist, but really not much. It had a max of $1000 (or maybe $1500) in benefit and a $60 deductible, I think. For basic preventive cleanings and checkups it covered that (after deductible), but anything else it would only pay 50% or so. I do forget the exact details. In the end, I considered it a break even insurance, at best.

I decided to ask my dentist's office if there was a better alternative. I figured they might indicate a "cash price" might be just as good. They directed me to buy a simple dental discount card with either Aetna or one other company that I now can't recall. So I looked into it. I ended up paying $95 for one year of the discount card with Aetna. It basically gets me the same discount on procedure rates that the insurance did. There is no deductible. There is no max benefit. Essentially, the dentist just discounts everything to a lower rate. There is no claim created or processed by the dentist.

I think I'll stick with this discount card.

This is the one I chose.
https://www.aetnavitalsavings.com/

For Vision, I just self fund. I pay for the eye exam to get the prescription. Then I order glasses online at zenni.com.

This is exactly what we do and was also recommended by our dental office staff, all of the insurance options we saw were not worth the cost. Same for vision.

Just curious - you only paid for one year of Aetna discounts? And you get the same discount every year? I always wondered if they don't check after year 1, we're still paying $99/yr for our discount card. It more than pays for itself just in savings on cleanings/X-rays alone.

 

[brett]

Like others we looked at a dental plan offered by mc's group insurer.

We view insurance as a hedge against large risk. The dental risk to us is root canals, crowns, implants. Not only were most of these only covered at 50 percent there was also a low annual cap on claims. So the insurance did not protect us from the risk the were looking for.

Eyewear...from Costco. $300 every two-three years. Our exams are covered by our universal health care program.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

This is exactly what we do and was also recommended by our dental office staff, all of the insurance options we saw were not worth the cost. Same for vision.

Just curious - you only paid for one year of Aetna discounts? And you get the same discount every year? I always wondered if they don't check after year 1, we're still paying $99/yr for our discount card. It more than pays for itself just in savings on cleanings/X-rays alone.

Yes, I only purchased one year of the discount plan up front. That was for this year (2021). According to the Aetna website, they price is actually $75 per year (for one person) + a one-time $20 "start up" fee. I assume closer to January 1, I will get emails to renew this discount plan and I would assume it will be for $75. But we will see. Since it's my first year, I'm not sure how that all works yet. The base price for a family is $105 per year.

The discount levels are loosely spelled out on the website. There's enough fine print to know that they are just estimates. You don't really have a firm commitment to the exact discount level that YOUR doctor will give from the program. But in this first year, the discounts were in the ballpark of what the Aetna website said. In fact, I think they were a little higher. I assume the discounts can change thru time and that I won't be notified about it.

 

[Ian S]

I've used a dental discount card for years but then my teeth have been pretty healthy. Vison-wise, the major cost is glasses but now with Costco and online sources, that's not such a big expense. Anything beyond a routine eye exam is covered by most healthcare plans. Because I have an eye problem that must be checked annually by an eye doctor, he does any routine exams at the same time. The latter cost me only if I want him to issue a prescription for glasses.

 

[Freedom56]

We pay $12 per month for VSP for two people through my pension benefit. It covers an annual eye exam, contacts, and glasses every two years and lens replacements every year. We pay cash for dental coverage. Our dentists are out of network for most plans sold on the individual market place and those plans have limited coverage. At this point it's only cleanings twice a year and the redo of an old filling every few years.