Dental Insurance – Does it Pay
At Platinum Dental, Inc., your San Marcos family dentist can work with your dental insurance as long as it is not an HMO. For patients with no dental insurance, we offer our own in-house dental savings plan. But if you want to get dental insurance, it it really worth it? Do you actually save money having dental insurance? Let’s find out.
The main question to ask when you are considering dental insurance is how much are you paying every year in premiums, compared to how much benefits you recieve. And this is very important because dental insurance premiums can vary dramatically. And they depend on factors such as: age, where you live, the benefit amount you choose and many more. Based on insurance data information at dentalinsurance.com, the average cost of insurance for a male in mid 30s is about $45/month with a high of about $90/month for a plan with more benefits.
In-Network vs Out-of-Network
When it comes to choosing your dentist and other healthcare providers, you are often faced with this question: are they in or out of network? What does this really mean though? Both to your healthcare and your pocketbook. Let’s find out.
In-Network Providers
What is the definition of an “in-network” provider? When a healthcare provider establishes a contractual relationship with an insurance company (e.g. Blue Cross), they agree to charge the patients covered by that insurance company a reduced fee for procedures they perform. This can range anywhere from 30%-60% below their normal fees for someone without this insurance. Why would any dentist agree to this arrangement? Because they hope that what they lose in their agreement with this insurance company, they make up for by seeing a higher volume of patients covered by this insurance. So if you are sitting in a doctor’s waiting room and you see a bunch of other patients there waiting along with you, you’ll know that you’ve arrived at an in-network office.
In-Network: Savings (Not Really) at the Expense of Comfort and Quality
In this scenario, the time spent with the doctor is extremely short because they got many more patients to see. Rushed visits, seeing a different doctor every time, long wait times, and inconvenient time slots are the norm for this type of arrangement. Patients often have to return multiple times to fix the same problem. And that’s often because the healthcare professional initially didn’t have enough time to take care of it the right way. Sometimes, auxiliary dental staff perform duties that they are not fully trained in. Even though the patient saves money (at least on paper), they are getting a lower quality of healthcare.
Out-of-Network Providers
Sticking with the example above, any healthcare provider that doesn’t agree to the insurance company’s contract is considered “out-of-network”. These providers can spend the necessary time with each patient. The patient receives better care because the provider isn’t running from one room to another endlessly. These types of practices offer little to no wait times, individualized attention, and ultimately, a higher quality of care for the patient. Patients often have their issues fixed more rapidly with less fuss and headaches. So even though they pay more to go out of network, they are getting a better, more complete, and higher quality of care.
Currently we are in-network with the following:
- Delta Dental – Premier
There are a number of insurance companies out there. If they allow you to see a dentist of your choice, then we can still help you utilize your insurance benefits even though we may be out of network. Your out-of-pocket cost will be higher than visiting an in-network office, but so will the comfort and quality of care you receive.
More About Dental Insurance
To learn a bit more about your dental insurance, be sure to check out the free article The 8 Most Important Questions To Ask The Dental Insurance Company.
Use It or Lose It
When it comes to dental insurance, it’s important to realize that your benefits are based on an annual (yearly) basis and that the benefits do not roll over to the next year. This means that if you have unused dental insurance benefits and the year ends, you lose the unused benefits. Why let your unused benefits go to waste? Be sure to see us to get your teeth checked and cleaned and also fix and repair what is necessary before the insurance benefits are lost.
Contact us to schedule your appointment now.