Dental insurance in the United States is becoming far more common than it was in the past. As more companies are realizing the need to add new benefits in order to retain their top employees within the company, dental and optical plans are being added to the list of benefits that employees already receive.
Keep in mind however that dental plans generally don’t come without a cost, even if you aren’t actively using it. Many companies require that each of their employees pay out upwards of $100 per month in order to cover the dental benefits. Sure, the company generally covers the larger portion of the insurance, but the employee is still required to pay out far more than they would for other types of insurance, such as their medical, and optical insurances. This is because dental insurance is still seen as a necessary, but voluntary type of insurance. Dental work is still seen as primarily aesthetic, with many companies seemingly taking the stance that employees should take better care of their teeth and they wouldn’t need dental work in the first place.
However, even with the high costs of providing dental care and many against offering it altogether, many companies do provide some sort of dental plan and this includes government employees. The basic policy is what the large majority of companies offer. In the standard basic policy, you should expect to receive only the services that are required in order to prevent future dental problems that may arise. This of course means that they really aren’t paying for much of anything that you couldn’t just do on your own. Think about it! If you are receiving just the services taht prevent future problems, that means that you are going to be getting cleanings and checkups. That’s about all that you get paid for. Anything above and beyond that, you might get a portion paid for, but for the most part, you’ll find that you will be footing the entire bill yourself.
So what benefit is it to have this basic insurance? In reality, there really isn’t much of a benefit at all, especially if you have a high deduction from your paycheck each month in order to cover your premiums. Realistically you could pay for the costs of these checkups cheaper out of pocket than you could by using the insurance itself. By paying these premiums you are letting the insurance company make a lot of free money, and you’re still going to be paying for dental work, especially as you see the dentist more frequently and they recommend new courses of action to remove teeth, fix teeth, give you braces, or whatever else they plan on doing.
The smartest thing to do is deny dental insurance from your company if you have that option. You should of course only do this if your teeth for the most part are fine. If you expect to spend a lot on dental work, the insurance generally pays a small portion of major work and it could be just enough padding to make it easier to afford. But if your teeth for the most part have no issues, then don’t even bother. Set that money that you would normally have taken out of your check for premiums into a savings account and don’t touch it. Get your annual checkups, and you’ll find that you should still have money after that to get other work done if needed. You still will have to pay a bit out of pocket for little things, but because you saved so much in premiums, it is partially covered.