Dental health coverage is available to anyone who chooses to purchase it through the employer or through self purchase. As with many other choices, dental health insurance has been expanded and delivered to our homes via the Internet. Before you shake your head, discover the benefits of dental health coverage from employers and from consumer dental plan purchases.
Basic dental health plans cover, office visits, teeth cleaning, fillings, extractions, crowns, x-rays, crowns and dentures.
The employer purchases the dental plan for the employees in a group dental health plan. The dental plan may include a co-pays and a deductible depending on the dental provider contract.
The consumer makes his own choice when he buys a plan for himself. The consumer dental plan is administered by a third party administrator and has a large network of dental providers from which to choose. The consumer gets to choose his provider but must stay within the network to obtain the discount prices for services. The savings are typically from 10% to 60% within the network. Costs of this plan are paid on an annual basis and range from about $79.00 to $129.00 per year.
A better alternative for consumers may be a Dental Discount Card. With this card, the consumer may go to a participating dental provider and pay the dentist directly at the discount prices. There is no annual premium and no deductible with this plan but a monthly fee is charged to the consumer. Dental cards can be used in conjunction with Dental Insurance Indemnity plans for additional savings. While many dental plans only cover a certain amount of dollars per year, there is no cap with the Dental Discount Card. The consumer can go to any dentist who is a participating provider and eligible family members can use the the the card as often as needed. Average savings are from 10% to 75%
The options and cost of a consumer plan purchase are comparable and attractive in terms of service. The disadvantage is that the consumer must stay within the participating provider network. If the consumer’s regular dentist is a participating member, that could be the best of both worlds.