Dental Insurance not keeping up with $$

[azjake]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Come to a Toronto hospital, you can see how civilized our medicine is after you wait 12 hours.

It's not like in the US you can just walk in and expect to be seen by a doctor on a moment's notice. You have to make an appt, usually days in advance.

ER will make you wait, too.


Exactly. County hospital's ER in major US cities can have 12+ hours wait time, and you will still get a huge bill that can bankrupt a family.

 

[28oz]

Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I have comparatively good insurance through my job (GHI/Emblem)

Gives me 2k worth of Dental a year with a $25 deductible

I'm of the wisdom tooth age, all 4 impacted and making there presence known loud and clear

Estimate was $2800, could be more once it's all said and done


$2800??? Take a nice vacation to Utah and save a ton of money as well...

http://wisdomteethguys.com/costs/utah/

$899 for 4 removals.

 

[mx5miata]

Yes

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: JeffKeryk
Dental insurance is a joke unless your teeth and gums are mostly healthy.
It just ain't that good.
I am considering full mouth implants for a friend. Probably $50K, or more...
Did you know the #1 reason people get into major debt is medical cost, and most of those people have insurance?

The only answer is single payer.
Do the math...
The rest of the civilized world has.


I posted about this recently. My brother-in-law's uncle lives in Norway. Not too long ago he needed a heart procedure. Now they would have gotten around to performing the procedure eventually I'm sure, but he wasn't sure he would still be alive by the time his appointment rolled around. So, he came here, had the procedure performed immediately, and is still alive today. Norway is often touted as a shining example of what a Socialized Country can be, (as long as it's heavily subsidized by oil and sky-high prices) but the reality can be something far different..

 

[BJD78]

They never will. They seem to think that everyone just has 25K or so just laying around.

 

[Mr Nice]

I thought Canada had wonderful 'free' healthcare ?

Here in the USA there was a bozo that promised wonderful low cost healthcare coverage... and you could keep your doctor and previous plans/coverages.

 

[Ursatdx]

I'm at $2500/mo for health insurance for my Wife, Daughter and myself. No Dental.
It's a ripoff until I really need it.
Those w/ no insurance will be treated.
I'm insuring my ASSets.
This guy gets it.


[/quote] It's called being an adult. Pay your own bills. If you can't afford to pay your own bills, cut your expenses or work two jobs. If you can't afford kids, don't have them. If you have health problems accept that life isn't fair and move on. Expecting someone else to pay for what you want is stealing.

The problem in this country these days is that everyone wants what they want, feel as though they are entitled to a certain standard of living, and they want someone else to pay for it. [/quote]

 

[BJD78]

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
It's all a joke anymore!!! I pay dearly for insurance through my job which offers a pretty good package overall. Delta Dental is included but of course it doesn't pay SQUAT for the braces my 13 year old daughter needs to straighten her teeth out. Yes it takes care of cleanings and check ups but I still pay a percentage of everything else out of pocket.

And for those of you saying "take care of your teeth and you don't need it" go pound sand. I've brushed and flossed pretty religiously all my life but unfortunately I was troubled early in life with high fevers, ear infections and other issues that caused my teeth to have poor/weak enamel and very prone to cavities. I had $5,000 in my mouth before I was 10. I'm scared to death of the dentist and only go when absolutely necessary now because they are all scam artists!!


No doubt, When I was in army we had delta and then later concordia and then back to Delta again they bounce the dental contracts back and forth constantly.Delta or Concordia made no difference they both sucked. In the span of about 9 years we had our 2 sons get braces and a daughter get braces as well. Braces were about 6K for each and dental paid ... not much maybe about 1600 per. One son our daughter also needed wisdom teeth removed and that was about 3K each as well. My brothers could brush their teeth with cola and never get a cavity and despite my regular brushing and flossing i ended up with a mouth full of metal fillings before I was out of HS. Of course there were a few years where my Dad was laid off from his railroad job and we could not afford dental cleanings or insurance, then he got a job with the state of North dakota and we at least got a fillings or 2 each year. Getting all teeth fixed would have been over the limit. This was back in the 70's so limit was probably much lower. Important to take care of teeth but weak enamal is often just genetics and all the careand brushing and flossing in the world wont fix that.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted By: hallstevenson
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Compare dental care to 40-50 years ago. Hardly any child got braces. Now it seems 80-90% get either braces or retainers. The push for perfect teeth is really a scam.


Have teenagers - braces are a status symbol


Braces was the least covered item on our plan … Dr said that was common and always let folks pay interest free if done in 12 months or less …

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
Compare dental care to 40-50 years ago. Hardly any child got braces. Now it seems 80-90% get either braces or retainers. The push for perfect teeth is really a scam.

As for single payer, it’s fine as long as you don’t mind someone else deciding your health future.


Watch a movie or TV show from 50 years ago and the actors have teeth like the rest of us. Now they're obscenely white like they glow in the dark, and perfectly aligned.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
Braces was the least covered item on our plan … Dr said that was common and always let folks pay interest free if done in 12 months or less …


Every dental plan I've seen has a separate coverage allowance/limit for "orthodontia" (if it had it at all). It's usually something in the $1500 range but no one is getting braces in the US for that price. And yes, ALL orthodontists will "finance" or do monthly payment plans.

If you think about it, how much "material" cost is involved ? $50-100 tops ? Braces are a KILLER profit for orthodontists ! Just look at the typical office, the HUGE staff, the dedicated staff member who only works on quoting and payment arrangements.

 

[SeaJay]

You have two very distinct types of dental services.

One is to keep the teeth healthy, fixing issues, pulling teeth that are too far gone, regular cleanings, adding bridges for lost teeth, preventing infections, filling cavities, etc...... Dentists today performing just these services are earning a living, but not getting rich.

The other is primarily for cosmetic reasons. Braces, crowns, implants, veneers, whitening, straightening, shaping, etc.... This is where the money comes in for Dentists, who are well served if they are good salesmen in addition to being good technical dentists.

IMO, good insurance coverage should be just for the first type of services. Cosmetic only issues should not be covered by insurance. If it is a combination, insurance coverage should only be partial.

 

[ZZman]

Unfortunately I got the bad teeth in the family and my brother got the good ones. I think he has had 1 cavity in 55 years. I have had cavities, root canals, crowns, a bridge. My teeth on the bottom are crooked.

 

[Aredeeem]

Currently going down the dentist rabbit hole. I know this is an old thread but if anyone is interested in a revival meeting I’m here.

 

[JTK]

Dental insurance seems to be low. I usually gripe that I can't put enough into my HSA. Kids needed braces & wife went ahead & paid before I could set up an FSA for that. Oops. Well, pay up front and for some reason they knock money off the bill. I guess that's why I save as much as I can to the HSA.

me, I plan to have teeth pulled when they break, and get dentures when I lose enough of them. Not paying big bucks to have "perfect" teeth, not until I have disposable money.

Isn't it wonderful? Take any kid for an dentist office recommended orthodontics consult and the orthodontist will always say they need braces.

For my kids it was around $6000 if you finance it through them "interest free". Pay it all up front with cash or a check and it suddenly drops to $4800.

I'm fortunate enough to have a decent company provided dental plan through Aetna. Pay a little extra for the premium plan and it covers like $2500 per person, per year. The key is to use a dentist or dental group on the Aetna preferred provider list. Pretty much everything is covered in full then. Most any dentist will take Aenta, but not all are "preferred", so they'll happily bill Aetna and bill you.

 

[Aredeeem]

Hi JTK, a fellow Versa occupant. I’ll start with you. I retired 3 years ago. No dental coverage since then. Then Covid hit. No dentist for 3 years, my bad. Before that I was a regular. Went back a few weeks ago. Exam, X-rays ,consultation. $300. I’ll keep these segments short. I don’t want to ramble on. The hygienist chapter is next.

 

[Aredeeem]

The hygienist decides I can’t get by with a regular cleaning. I need a DEEP cleaning. Root scaling and planing. Cost $350 per quarter. Total cost for that $1400. It gets worse. If you’re interested just say “go on.” Otherwise I’ll stop here.

 

[supton]

For my kids it was around $6000 if you finance it through them "interest free". Pay it all up front with cash or a check and it suddenly drops to $4800.

I think it wound up like that. Wife paid it, I kinda didn’t want to know… But in the past now, kids are happy and no longer food restricted.

 

[tiger862]

I went to dentist with a plan to get all top pulled then dentures then on second visit he stated I was wasting his time. Now I pull my own. I have 3 or 4 to go. Hard to eat and have dental but as stated it is higher with insurance.

 

[PWMDMD]

I'm a dentist.

1. That $1000-$1500 yearly maximum has not gone up in decades but your premiums have.
2. Dental insurance is not like medical insurance. Medical insurance is really meant for catastrophic coverage. Dental insurance is a discount plan for routine visits.
3. More dentists are starting to stop participating with insurance because they suck. For example, Delta Dental, after not giving a fee increase for 10 years recently decided they were going to decrease reimbursement 10% per year for 3 years for a 30% reduction. This means DD's fees will be equal to Medicaid in Massachusetts. Some math - Delta Dental's reimbursement was about 80% of my fee. My overhead is 60% of my fee schedule. 80%-30% = 50%. If I stayed with DD it would cost ME money to see patients with DD.
4. Many dental insurance companies had record profits last year.
5. Dental insurance does not care about their members - just profit.
6. Dental insurances make money by charging premiums and NOT paying for services.

If you do not like the current state of dental insurance please speak to your HR department. You have all the power. Insurance companies treat dentists like we are their enemy and we have zero say in how they operate other than to go out of network.