Dental Insurance?

[FloridaJim57]

My wife's COBRA coverage expires soon. Not a problem as she will be covered by Medicare, but this does not cover dental. Is private dental insurance worth it and what carrier/plan do you recommend?

 

[DrRoy]

We went with Delta Dental when my RE insurance was cancelled by Megacorp.

 

[COcheesehead]

For us dental didn’t make sense. The premium was about equal to our regular dental expenses. We would have had to have an extraordinary event to come out ahead, but if you have regular checkups, the likelihood of that is rare. We pay as we go and ask for the cash/senior discount which saves a little more each time.

 

[scrabbler1]

I recently explored buying dental insurance through the ACA. Through the ACA, there are fewer plans available but they cost maybe half as much, and that is without any premium subsidy (dental is not eligible for a premium subsidy, at least in my state of NY). I went so far as to sign up for a 2022 plan back in November. But at the last minute, I discovered that the Delta plan I wanted did not have my current dentist within its network, contrary to information his office had given me earlier.

I had several choices: I could (a) choose the other plan, a lousier plan which didn't meet the needs I had when I sought dental insurance; (b) choose another dentist, one within the network for this plan, something I didn't want to do because I liked my dentist and wanted to keep him; (c) choose another plan which met my needs and had my dentist in its network but not in the ACA - I'd pay double the premiums which would make it not worthwhile.

So, I simply disenrolled from the Delta plan. Thankfully, I discovered this before the start of 2022 so I wouldn't be blindsided by Delta when they refused to pay out a claim. I also hadn't paid the January premium yet, so I don't have to bug them for a refund. No harm, no foul.

I have been without dental insurance since 2009, when my Cobra expired, so I will continue to go without it, at least for now. I made sure to get some long-delayed dental work done in 2008 while I still had coverage.

My warning to the OP and anyone else reading this is: make sure your dentist, if you already have one, is in the network for the specific plan you select. The dentist may not be in all available plans offered by an insurer.

 

[Venturer]

After we retired we looked at several dental insurance plans and ended up with a discount plan that our dentist was a member of $90.oo yr. and we pay $40.for cleanings 2x yr. and every thing else gets a % discount. When we were w**king it was costing us more than this even with our company plan. If we need extensive amounts of stuff in the future we will just suck it up and pay.

 

[finnski1]

After we retired we looked at several dental insurance plans and ended up with a discount plan that our dentist was a member of $90.oo yr. and we pay $40.for cleanings 2x yr. and every thing else gets a % discount. When we were w**king it was costing us more than this even with our company plan. If we need extensive amounts of stuff in the future we will just suck it up and pay.

Same here.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I'm also found that dental insurance for the privately purchasing retiree didn't add up for me. I purchased some in my first year and it didn't really save me any money. My dentist recommended I just use a Dental Discount Plan from either Aetna or Cigna. I chose the Aetna one. I pay $75 per year ($95 the first year) and I get discounted rates from my dentist. Dentists need to be "in" the plan, so verify yours is.

For basic cleanings and checkups, I'm still paying the dentist about the same as I did under insurance (with its deductible). But I'm not paying nearly as much in an insurance premium. If I need major dental work, it too will be discounted. The insurance might have saved me a little bit more for that type of work, but not much since the insurance had a $1000 spending cap.

 

[sengsational]

I've found that what they call dental insurance is really a discount plan. The premiums are at least what you pay for cleanings and the cleanings are covered to various levels. Anything beyond cleanings probably have a slightly lower price than the local usual rate. So much of what you might need insurance for isn't covered or is subject to a cap that makes the benefit to you minimal.

The more elective having insurance is, the less like insurance the product becomes. House, car, yep, pretty much everyone is forced to have, and that is "real" insurance, protecting you from a big hurt. Dental, people opt in and out, so it doesn't work on the big hurt problem.

 

[pacergal]

Our Kaiser Medicare plan has a "plus plan" that covers dental, relatively inexpensive.
As others have said, many dental offices have their own discount plan.

 

[Aerides]

I have a discount/membership plan with my dentist, which works out the same pretty much if I have anything big needing done.

 

[Tafkah]

I haven't had dental insurance for years, but signed up with Delta Dental HMO this year through ACA. It was only $15 a month and included 2 free checkups/cleanings. Major things like root canals and crowns are $300 each, so seems like a great deal. The downside is that I have to change dentists, and it's difficult to get an appointment that's not 2 months out. Good luck.

 

[Midpack]

We have a UHC dental plan. It costs $52/mo for both DW and I but it pays 100% for routine cleanings and exams every 6 months for both of us. They alone would cost $600 ($150 x 4) out of pocket. Any other services are discounted 20% or more, for $1/mo each ($56 premium x 12 months -$600 cleanings/exams)/12 months/2 people. Fortunately we don’t have a lot of other dental expenses, but there have been some every year and we’ve net saved vs out of pocket for three years running, considerable one year when I had a crown done. Why not?

 

[Dash man]

We also signed up with Delta Dental continuing our coverage from DW’s employer plan. We pay about $72/month for two of us. I don’t think they’ve increased the price since DW retired.

 

[GTFan]

Is private dental insurance worth it and what carrier/plan do you recommend?

No. Get a discount card, unless you need constant work done you're wasting your money on insurance.

Tons of threads about this already, please search before starting yet another one.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

We have a UHC dental plan. It costs $52/mo for both DW and I but it pays 100% for routine cleanings and exams every 6 months for both of us. They alone would cost $600 ($150 x 4) out of pocket. Any other services are discounted 20% or more, for $1/mo each ($56 premium x 12 months -$600 cleanings/exams)/12 months/2 people. Fortunately we don’t have a lot of other dental expenses, but there have been some every year and we’ve net saved vs out of pocket for three years running, considerable one year when I had a crown done. Why not?

I realize the difference is only a few hundred dollars, but I gave up the similarly-priced insurance plan approach to yours after 1 year of retirement. I now use an Aetna discount card program.

I now pay $75 per year up front for the discount plan (no additional monthly cost). Each of my cleanings/exams cost me $65 (discounted down from $125). So, I pay $130 per year for preventive visits. If I had a spouse/partner, that would be $260 for the 4 visits. For a family, the plan costs $105 instead of $75. So, for a family, a total expense of $365 per year. With the same level of discount given to any additional work I might need as you are getting. So I save a couple hundred bucks per year from when I paid monthly insurance premiums. Not a lot of money, but it pays for a couple nice dinners somewhere.

 

[brett]

No interest in dental insurance. Most plans we have looked at have a low cap on things like root canals, crowns, implants, etc. or do not cover them. We looked at it ten years ago when I retired. For us, the premiums were high and the benefits were low. We passed. For us...it was the right financial decision.

We only use insurance products for risks that could threaten us financially.

Most dental insurance plans the only cover the basics. They often have an annual claim limit. No cheese for us in buying a policy.

 

[Ian S]

Not a problem as she will be covered by Medicare, but this does not cover dental.

That depends. Some Medicare Advantage plans may offer dental coverage. Also, I learned last year that my AARP Supplement plan through UHC includes a dental discount plan (Dentegra.)

 

[Montecfo]

Your insurance dollars go further elsewhere. In most cases, better to negotiate a lower fee schedule (dentist probably already has one) or find a discount plan.

We did not buy the dental under Cobra for that reason. Like most everywhere, cash prices are lower than insured ones.

 

[Car-Guy]

The annual premiums seem to keep going up each year, currently ~$35mo, with 2k annual coverage along with free cleanings and X-Ray's. We hit the 2k cap most years... So, not hard to figure.

In any case, to me the real value is in getting the negotiated or discount rates becasue we have the insurance rather than paying full price...

 

[momoftwo]

We have Delta dental insurance.
2K coverage limit per year.

I always need work each year.
Two cleanings and x-rays are covered 100%.
Fillings, crowns, implants covered 50%.
No deductible

A crown costs me $548 out of pocket instead of $1625 full price.

The big benefit for me is the negotiated rate even after I reach maximum coverage in a year.

 

[COcheesehead]

We have Delta dental insurance.
2K coverage limit per year.

I always need work each year.
Two cleanings and x-rays are covered 100%.
Fillings, crowns, implants covered 50%.
No deductible

A crown costs me $548 out of pocket instead of $1625 full price.

The big benefit for me is the negotiated rate even after I reach maximum coverage in a year.

Our dentist 3 D prints crowns while you wait in the chair - full price $800. $1625 is outrageous.

 

[rodi]

I've looked at this a lot.

Currently have a pre-pay discount with my (newish) dentist. I also changed dentists when a regular checkup cleaning was up to $220. When I retired and went off cobra it was $120. I liked my old dentist - but not that much. Hubby still goes to old dentist. Me and the boys go to the new dentist.

One of the issues I had with many of the plans is that the for anything above checkups there was a 1-2 year waiting period. So you are gambling on not needing a filling or crown, while you are paying insurance premiums. And the premiums where not cheap.

 

[momoftwo]

Agreed $1625 is outrageous for a crown.
Welcome to ridiculously expensive NJ.
This was the approx list price for 3 different practices our family used in northern NJ over the years.

We have always had Delta dental insurance. So the list price of services have been irrelevant.
We pay 50% of the negotiated price.

Ive tried to determine out of pocket costs with dental savings plans. We would have to switch practices and the negotiated prices were not impressive.

I understand that patients often can negotiate individually with a dentist by paying cash. I never attempted that .

 

[11522914]

I understand that patients often can negotiate individually with a dentist by paying cash. I never attempted that .

I get a 10% discount when paying cash.

 

[kyzymurgist]

Here's another vote for a discount plan. We've had Cigna for several years and the annual cost is more than paid back in the savings on routine exams, cleaning, and x-rays.

The savings really add up for any extra procedures like crowns.