Do you buy Dental and Vision Insurance during ER?

[Prague]

Hi there - I am glad to report that we are reaching our ER goal very soon! We plan to be on COBRA for the next 18 months after tender our resignation. The COBRA piece consists of medical, dental and vision insurances.

So my questions are:
1. Are dental and vision insurances required as part of the health insurance mandate? We know we definitely want to purchase medical insurance. However, during the years that we have the dental and vision insurances, we have found that we are essentially self-paying for all the services due to low coverage amount (e.g. only like $1000 for dental services) and/or our preferred opthamologist not in the network (vision). We actually have had better luck getting these services/products during our international travels, which will be doing even more.

2. Would you recommend purchasing dental or vision insurances during ER? Why?

Thanks!

 

[Jerry1]

Dental and Vision are not required.

The consensus is that it's typically not worth purchasing the insurance. Of course when you get your COBRA paperwork, you'll be better able to tell. For someone with known dental issues or a poor history in the dental area, it might be worth it. For most it seems not.

Vision is pretty straight forward. Places like Costco and on line retailers do well and unless you have a very expensive vision issue skip the insurance. For dental, ask your dentist. My dentist charges me the same amount she gets from one of her accepted insurances. Not sure if that's rock bottom, but it's no where near the full charge.

Again, you'll know better once you get your COBRA number, but I wouldn't plan on getting the dental or vision through COBRA or buying independent dental or vision insurance.

 

[Bamaman]

For dental, it depends on how healthful your family's teeth are. It doesn't take long to go through $370 in yearly expenses (cost of insurance) when teeth cleaning/xrays cost $150 a visit x 2. And although our BCBS policy is $1500 max. per year, a crown and root canal runs $1700 alone. Just one procedure can recover your yearly cumulative premiums after 2 cleanings.

 

[Midpack]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/paying-for-dental-care-when-on-medicare-97530.html

 

[ER Eddie]

Thanks for bringing this up. I've been wondering the same thing.

A while back, I dropped both dental and vision insurance. They weren't expensive (I was getting them through my employer), but I hadn't used them in years, and I figured I could save a few bucks. Naturally, right after I dropped the insurance, I found out I needed some dental work and new glasses. The dentist was nice and only charged me about $100 or $150, because he knew I was paying cash, but the glasses cost me about $700. But hey, I did save $30 on insurance costs, lol. Penny wise, pound foolish...

Anyhow, my insurance is running out in 2 months (because I'm retiring, woohoo), and I'm trying to squeeze in a quick dental visit and maybe a new pair of glasses before they run out. I may or may not have a COBRA option to continue them, not sure how that will work.

 

[bobandsherry]

Not for dental insurance, but you may look at a dental plan. I bought one for Cigna through DentalPlans.com. Cost me $150 for the year (wife and I), but the benefit is negotiated rates. Just had a crown replaced, saved $480 vs cash price quote from dentist. So more than paid for itself. Even without any dental work it pays for itself on savings on exam, cleaning and x-rays. Costco offers similar plan but my dentist isn't in that plan.

As a side benefit, the dental plan also includes vision discounts.

 

[Willers]

We moved away from dental insurance because 1) the limits and premiums on policies in our area wouldn't be cost effective. Also, our dentist started offering a cash/pay right away discount which made it a no brainer for us. Same with vision.

 

[JoeWras]

I keep Dental so as to keep my participation in my former employer's plan active. It costs $360, and my preventative payout is about the same every year, so the net sum is zero. Should I need a crown or filling, I'll get partial benefit.

I don't do vision since I really don't need it.

 

[Cobra9777]

We have dental insurance available through my former employer, as long as I maintain health coverage. We dropped dental coverage when I retired. In a nutshell, the retiree premiums were about equal to the uninsured cost for 2 annual cleanings and x-rays for each of us. We both have fairly healthy teeth and rarely needed any other procedures.

Then in 2017, our dentist had been harassing DW to get her wisdom teeth pulled and I needed some periodontal work. So I signed up for dental in 2018 and we got all that work done last year, plus DW had a cavity filled. I then dropped it for 2019. This insurance has two options, Basic and Plus. We went with the Plus, which has higher coinsurance % and a higher annual benefits max ($2K). I don't remember the final tally, but we came out WAY ahead vs no insurance.

We also have a Vision plan through DW's former employer. It's only $9/mo and gets us free annual exams at our regular optometrist, plus large discounts on contacts and glasses. DW gets new contacts every year and this saves quite a bit. At some point, we may start using CostCo or zenni for glasses, and just drop the Vision plan. But for now, we like using the Optician at our Optometrist's office and the discounts help offset their grossly-inflated prices.

 

[SumDay]

I could have taken Retiree Dental through my employer, but the premiums were $1200 annually, with $1500 being the maximum they'd pay.

I opted to pay my dentist about $150 a year, which gets us deeply discounted rates for cleanings and 40% off for procedures. It's a cr*p shoot.

 

[Bir48die]

I have dental insurance for both of us. Some just pay OOP for their care. Right now I'm having old crowns re-done so I do one a year plus a couple other things. Right now I'm ahead versus premiums so I'll stick with this.

 

[Gotadimple]

If you can find coverage at a reasonable premium, then buy insurance. Without it, you can always negotiate with the dentist or the optometrist about the cost of exams and vision hardware.

If you qualify for Medicare and can get good coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan, vision and dental add-ons are relatively inexpensive, this year. I have a MA plan in Washington state that covers all basic dental procedures (2 exams, 2 cleanings, 1 set of x-rays) and basic optometrist procedures (exam and some testing, small allowance for hardware ) for $20/month, no deductible, no co-pay, for $240 per year.

 

[Moemg]

I have dental insurance . I pay $360 a year and most years I have come out way ahead .

 

[Rianne]

Dental - absolutely. Vision, not so much. It's easy to get great vision care at discount vision stores. I have 4 pairs of glasses and interchange them. Serious vision issues are covered under HI. Dental is never covered.

 

[jimandthom]

Yep--- we pay 46/mo for the 2 of us with a $2500 max benefit per person. Also has a hearing component along with the dental/optical.

Some of our crowns are approaching 20 years old so there is the occasional replacement happening. Add in cleaning, bitewings, contacts and glasses it is worthwhile as our premium is not very much.


We could get a policy for $75/mo with a $35K yearly benefit for the same company. You don't even have an exclusion period for orthodontics with that one.

Our health insurance also provides a small benefit for dental basics.

 

[pb4uski]

No, we do not buy dental or vision insurance coverage.

We self-insure and it has worked out well for us. Generally an eye exam a year each... I wear glasses and my prescription has changed so negligibly over the past five years that I have the same glasses. Also, we each have regular dental check-ups and cleanings. All told about less than $500/year for the both of us combined.

However, I will need a crown in a month or so (cracked a tooth while in Florida but it is not at all painful so I'm waiting until I get home to have a crown done since it is $600 less at home).

 

[Jerry1]

but the glasses cost me about $700.

This is the scam that is the vision industry. There are very good alternatives to paying that much for glasses. My glasses were always that much but hey, what did I care, I only had to pay my deductible. Now, I got my last pair at Costco for about $150. Not positive of the exact price, but far cheaper. Don’t pay that much for glasses.

 

[deserat]

I just got a pair of glasses from Zenni Optical - ~$90 for progressives....I didn't like those, so returned them, got credit and got the same pair but with bifocals. It took aabout a week at the most to order and receive the glasses. So far, so good.

I've had a lenses replaced in a favorite pair of frames from another online vendor (forgot the name - but it wasn't Zenni - they don't do that) and they turned out great.

I purchased my contacts from Costco the last time - very good prices.

So, there are lots of options for vision peripherals once you get the prescription (demand the pupillary distanceto be on the prescription from the optometrist - game they play to have you purchase glasses from them).

 

[triangle]

I just got a pair of glasses from Zenni Optical - ~$90 for progressives....I didn't like those, so returned them, got credit and got the same pair but with bifocals. It took aabout a week at the most to order and receive the glasses. So far, so good.
I've had a lenses replaced in a favorite pair of frames from another online vendor (forgot the name - but it wasn't Zenni - they don't do that) and they turned out great.

I purchased my contacts from Costco the last time - very good prices.

So, there are lots of options for vision peripherals once you get the prescription (demand the pupillary distanceto be on the prescription from the optometrist - game they play to have you purchase glasses from them).

Did Zenni provide full or partial credit for those progressives when reordering as bifocals? That would be good to know.

I am new to wearing glasses but recently got a pair of those $600+ progressive lens glasses from the eye doctor. The in focus field-of-view was narrow and I only wore them for driving (felt more harmful than helpful when shopping for groceries or doing similar tasks). I went back to ask about my new specs and the eye glass technician measured the progressive start point relative to my eye and reordered them with less "tunnel vision" and they are much better. I suspect the inflated price was to cover the need to potentially reorder.

During the waiting interval I ordered two pair of single vision eyeglass from Zenni. One for "distance" and one for "computer" for less that $100 total. The new progressive lens glasses from my eye doctor are much better but I like wearing the single vision glasses better. It is so much easier to move the eyes than the head to keep everything in focus, especially when using a big computer monitor.

My biggest question is how do you like bifocals as compared to progressives? Based on my initial experience I would think there is less distortion to deal with when wearing bifocals? I need to get some prescription "reading" glasses and was thinking bifocals might be a good choice. Maybe I should just order both to figure out which I prefer. I still get confused on how these online places know where to draw the line between bifocals, or how aggressive to crank up the progression. Seems like that level of detail would matter a lot and is not captured very well in the eyeglass prescription or eyeglass frame size specs.

 

[deserat]

"Did Zenni provide full or partial credit for those progressives when reordering as bifocals?"

Full credit minus shipping - I had to reorder another pair of glasses, but just went to previous orders and edited the type of glasses to bifocals and they shipped another pair quite quickly.

" My biggest question is how do you like bifocals as compared to progressives? Based on my initial experience I would think there is less distortion to deal with when wearing bifocals?"

I had never worn progressives before and bifocals only rarely - I found that the transition line for progressives was smack dab in the middle of my line of sight, so when I was walking around everything was blurry or I was cocking my head or moving my eyes higher up to see. With the bifocals there is a clear delineation and I'm not having to adjust my head.

I may also buy two pair of glasses - one for distance, one for close-up.

I like the bifocals much better than the progressives.

With the Zenni experience, I was spending much less than you, so was wiling to try things out (order, ship back, re-order, etc). At $600 a pop I would be a lot more demanding with regard to fixes.....

 

[njhowie]

Now, I got my last pair at Costco for about $150. Not positive of the exact price, but far cheaper. Don’t pay that much for glasses.

This is where we go - $69 for exam and 2 pair. There's extra charges if you want/need special lenses, but still extremely good price. They have locations in many states.

https://www.americasbest.com

 

[Go-NoGo]

This is the scam that is the vision industry. There are very good alternatives to paying that much for glasses. My glasses were always that much but hey, what did I care, I only had to pay my deductible. Now, I got my last pair at Costco for about $150. Not positive of the exact price, but far cheaper. Don’t pay that much for glasses.

+1

The market for eyeglasses and Lenses is mostly owned by one company - Luxottica. They have acquired most of their competitors and markups for lenses and frames run around 1000%

LA Times ran a story:

How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all

https://www.latimes.com/business/la...afters-luxottica-monopoly-20190305-story.html

"..The company’s owned and licensed brands include Armani, Brooks Brothers, Burberry, Chanel, Coach, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Oakley, Oliver Peoples, Persol, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ray-Ban, Tiffany, Valentino, Vogue and Versace.

Along with LensCrafters, Luxottica also runs Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Sunglass Hut and Target Optical, as well as the insurer EyeMed Vision Care"

it's an eye opener

 

[RAE]

No dental or vision insurance for us. Premiums are too high, and the coverage provided is mediocre at best, at least the last time I looked at the policy we were offered (they only covered 40-50% of the cost of many major procedures). I'm sure we have come out ahead by just self-insuring vision and dental, but I suppose if you anticipated high dental costs in the years ahead, it might be worth looking into.

 

[WestUniversity]

We have a plan through Delta Dental. It’s basically the same plan and provider I had through MegaCorp. It’s about $600 per year...

 

[MBAustin]

Our retiree dental insurance options are terrible and expensive so we do not buy it. Vision, on the other hand, more than pays for itself with the discount on my contacts every year. DH and I both have squirrelly vision issues so we do not shop around for our services, which probably would be cheaper still.