Has anyone used a dental plan offered as an option to buy with a ACA plan? If so did they discount crowns, bridges, root canals etc. and have a OOP maximum?
When my wife and I retired we asked our Dentist about insurance plans. His recommendation was don't waste your money. Most dental insurance plans are not worth much. They usually cap at $1,000 coverage, and that after some significant deductibles. I had looked and found that it cost $30+/mo for a basic plan, so I would end up spending $360 (each) to get $1,000 in possible coverage (after meeting my deductible).
I did find a decent dental plan here ->
DentalPlans
The whole Suze Orman touch on their webpage had me skeptical, but I can attest that it was worth it. The plan was regularly $199 but they had a promotion offered. With the promo I ended up paying $164 ($144 plus $20 processing fee) for the TWO of us for 15 months (3 months free was part of the promo) through CignaCare. Also look around, you can find cashback sites like you see on TV for them as well, I got 20% cash back.
I know I saved well above what I paid for the plan just in the cost of the 6 month check-up/cleaning for both of us. The dentist would normally charge $110, we paid $44 with the plan. I saved over $250 just with the routine check-up and cleaning.
On top of that, we had to have filings, root canal and crown. Yep, a bad year. Our dentist had provided us a quote for the services, I had sticker shock is prompted me to look for a way to save a buck or two. We saved $120 on filing, $830 on root canal and $400 on crown, this is based on what the dentist had initially quoted and what we paid under the dental plan.
Our savings have been $1,600 this year. I compared with the typical dental insurance, we paid less with the dental plan than we would have with the traditional insurance.
Honestly, I thought there'd be some catch or gimmick, but there wasn't. There's no forms to fill out at the dentist (just show them your card) or reimbursement. There's also no cap limit, no waiting period either.
You can check for yourself, you can select a dentist and then view sample of their fees. I found that the cost of procedures will vary by dentist.