Dental Insurance

[HtownRose]

Seeking recommendations for a dental insurance plan for my 81 yo Mom in Houston. Her Medicare Advantage plan is Texan Plus & it provides a bit of reimbursement for cleanings etc., but that has proven inadequate.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Big_Hitter]

If you want I can ask my parents what they use. They live in Houston too.

 

[HtownRose]

Yes, please!

 

[travelover]

Dental insurance plans have been discussed here on and off. Consensus is generally that unless they are employer subsidized, they are not worth the money due to low maximum payout vs premiums.

 

[HtownRose]

Yes, my plan through work is $1 a month; unfortunately I cannot add her.

 

[Gotadimple]

What your Mom gets with her Medicare Advantage plan is a start, and really not designed to cover all contingencies. I have looked at private dental insurance (in WA state), and as others have said, it just generally isn't worth much. Most policies here have a $1,000 limit on cost of care.

If she thinks she will have dental issues (fillings, tooth extraction, etc), then dental insurance will probably pay for HALF the costs (without factoring in the cost of premiums.

If she feels she will need just general check-ups and cleanings, she'll get about $100 in savings annually with dental insurance. That is: the value of what the insurance company pays will exceed her premiums, deductibles, and cost sharing by $100. If she has savings, IMHO, it is just better to fund the cost of care above what the MA plan pays for.

- Rita

 

[Big_Hitter]

I just spoke with my Mom - they are self-insured for dental

 

[Happyras]

I seem to remember that someone here had said they talked to their dentist, and they agreed to bill for the insurance negotiated rates. Does someone remember this or has someone done this? It seems reasonable to think a dentist might give their long term clients a break at no cost to themselves, considering they would get the same if the client were insured.

 

[Brat]

IMHO it is more important to find a reasonably priced dentist who will take care of her teeth and not push unnecessary care. Even with insurance a visit to an endodontist will cost serious $.

 

[Bamaman]

Our Blue Cross Blue Shield dental insurance with $1500 each maximum coverage is $33 per month (each). And root canals and caps are not covered the first year. It does cover 2 cleanings a year and a x-ray, with a small deductible. I did get a BCBS discount on a replacement cap--and chose to have one carved in 6 minutes by a dentist with a CNC milling machine--$100 cheaper than my dentist charges.

Too bad dental policies don't cover implants. They're the real deal--but extremely expensive after all procedures are included.

 

[CRLLS]

I just spoke with my Mom - they are self-insured for dental

As are both of us. We have been for many years. Even during employment. We just found it the right choice for us.

 

[HtownRose]

Thanks everyone! It's hard for her to fathom the costs when she & my dad had a dental practice way back when the prices were so much less. As I've been telling her, this is a good & worthy use of her savings.

 

[burch64]

I bought Aetna Dental online for about $100 per year. It pays nothing but you get network rate that Dentist has agreed to.

Odd that Dentist will not give network rate without third party but I have had one Dentist even recommend buying Aetna so she could charge network rate.

 

[ziggy29]

Too bad dental policies don't cover implants. They're the real deal--but extremely expensive after all procedures are included.

True. I think it's because people can dart in and out of dental plans from year to year, only signing up in years when they expect significant dental expenses. Many plans *do* limit benefits in the first year to preventative and "minor" procedures, but still.

My dental plan through w*rk is not subsidized by the employer but it is paid with after-tax dollars. So in reality, I pay about $48 after-tax per month for both of us, for a plan with no deductibles and a $10,000 benefit limit. And since I have a history of periodontal disease (very genetic in my family), the combination of cleanings, X-rays and two additional perio treatments per year easily cover the cost of the insurance. And the coverage for any other work I need is just gravy at that point.

Of course, in the individual market I don't think dental plans like this exist, and if they did, they would cost a lot more and probably have more coverage restrictions in the first 12-24 months. And so, I've yet to see a dental insurance plan on the individual market that is worth buying, especially if one can afford to "self-insure" for routine dental expenses. The costs are pretty high given the usual $1000-1500 annual benefit maximums.

If you think about it, most dental insurance is the *opposite* of what we usually call "insurance". Usually insurance protects us from large, catastrophic losses while expecting the policyholder to "self-insure" smaller losses (i.e. the deductible). Dental mostly does the opposite -- it covers smaller costs while leaving you exposed to theoretically unlimited expenses.

 

[GTFan]

Dental insurance plans have been discussed here on and off. Consensus is generally that unless they are employer subsidized, they are not worth the money due to low maximum payout vs premiums.

This.

 

[GTFan]

Our Blue Cross Blue Shield dental insurance with $1500 each maximum coverage is $33 per month (each). And root canals and caps are not covered the first year. It does cover 2 cleanings a year and a x-ray, with a small deductible. I did get a BCBS discount on a replacement cap--and chose to have one carved in 6 minutes by a dentist with a CNC milling machine--$100 cheaper than my dentist charges.

So let me get this straight, you're paying $400 a year pp (plus deductible) for a couple of cleanings and x-rays in a normal year?

This is why open market dental insurance is a bad deal unless you often need dental work. And even then it may not save you much because of the low annual caps.