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| Dental Insurance Benefits: |
| Service Fees have increased but insurance benefits remain the same. |
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These treatments are not
covered by most insurance companies
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A dental insurance plan is a contract between you and an
insurance company that, in most cases, is coordinated by your employer. If
that’s the case, the insurance company and your employer are responsible for
negotiating the details of the plan. Because our office has no control over
this contract, we cannot request additional coverage for you.
Common insurance plans
There are several kinds of
dental insurance plans. The four most common kinds of plans are:
- direct reimbursement programs
- preferred provider organizations
- capitation plans (also called dental health maintenance organizations)
- and indemnity or "usual, customary and reasonable" plans
Direct reimbursement programs
In direct reimbursement programs, your employer reimburses you directly
for part or all of your dental treatment. All procedures and treatment
methods are usually covered, and you can see any dentist you choose.
Preferred provider organizations
In a preferred provider
organization, you must choose from a group of dentists who have agreed to
discount their fees so that they can be a part of the organization.
Capitation plans
In a capitation plan (also
called a dental health maintenance program), participating dentists are paid a
set amount for each patient enrolled in the plan. Dentists are paid this set
amount no matter how often you visit them (or don’t visit them) and no matter
what kind of treatment you get. This generally means that the more work these
dentists do for their patients, the less money they’ll make.
Indemnity plans
The most common insurance programs are indemnity plans, which are also
called UCR programs. UCR stands for "usual, customary, and reasonable."
In these plans, you may choose any dentist and pay on a traditional fee-for-service
basis. The insurance company, who is paid a monthly premium by your employer,
then reimburses you for between 50 and 80 percent of the dentist’s fee.
You are responsible for the remaining 20 to 50 percent after meeting a
pre-determined deductible payment. The amount of the deductible is set
in the contract between your employer and the insurance company.
Referring to the program and its fees as "usual, customary, and reasonable"
is misleading. Most people assume that insurance companies have gathered statistics and that these
statistics are the basis for UCR fees. This is simply not true in many cases.
These UCR fees often do not represent local dentists’ fees or the available
treatment options. They may be, in fact, simply fees that are set by the
insurance company. As a result, different insurance companies often have
different UCR fees for the same geographic area and for the same group of
dentists!
Behind the times
The annual limit of dental
insurance benefits has hardly budged in forty years. Back in 1960, the average
annual coverage maximum was one thousand dollars. Forty years later, it still
sits at approximately one thousand dollars, despite inflation and cost of
living increases.
The benefits have remained the same, but fees for
procedures have tripled or even quadrupled. And most insurance plans often
exclude new treatments they can label as "discretionary," including
common treatments such as implants, porcelain veneers, orthodontic treatment,
bonding, and whitening.
The choice is yours
If you were to build a house, would you rather have the least expensive
contractor who used the cheapest materials and technologies? Or would you
rather build a home that will last using quality materials?
You have similar choices when it comes to your dental care. In many cases,
your insurance company wants you to consider only the cheapest dental procedures,
but we believe that you should be able to choose the best dental treatment
and materials for you and your family.
You may also be interested in:
Infection control in our Houston dental office
Nitrous oxide sedation (laughing gas)
The diagnostic process of your dental health
HIPPA Notice of Privacy Practice
Dental rubber dam
Oral cancer exam by your dentist
Sensitive teeth: the causes and treatment options
Dental bitewing x-rays
Complete series of dental x-rays
Panorex-panographic dental x-ray
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