There are many different types of dental insurance plans which are available in the market today which varies substantially in terms of the premium cost, plan coverage, benefits, waiting period etc, from one another. Most of the individual dental insurance plan tends to emphasize on the importance of preventive dental care, to save up for the high rising dental expenses nowadays.
Dental insurance plans can be categorized broadly by these key differences :
a. The dental care providers
b. Exceptional out-of-pocket expenses
c. How efficient and flexible these plans work
d. Who is the target customer
e. What are the different monthly premium for different plans
a. Choices of the dental Care Providers :
- Some insurance companies have their own collaborated chain of dental clinics which they partnership with. If your dental plan is from any of these companies, the policy holders can only visit and seek treatments from this list of dental clinics.
If you prefer to continue getting your dental treatments from your current dentist, you need to seek for other insurance company which allows their customers to have such privilege ; however they might charge a higher monthly premium for this case.
b. Exceptional Out of Pockets expenses :
- Some insurance plan does not cover all the basic dental treatments. That's why the monthly premium for their plan is much lower as compared to other companies. For such case, the policy holder will need to pay out of the pocket for those additional dental treatments taken, but have not being covered in the dental plan they have enrolled. This inevitably caused some of them having to pay more money than what they might be paying if they choose for a highly premium dental plan which covers all the necessary basic dental treatments in the first place.
- Only you yourself can tell the right plan for your own needs, therefore please be cautious and remember your main criteria when plan selection is made. The key here is not to choose the cheapest insurance plan, or any famous insurance company, the key is to make sure the plan you bought is ready to cover what you urgently need for now and the future.
c. How effective each plan works :
- With a traditional plan, you pay a periodic premium and receive benefits such as 80-100% of your dental costs covered. The reimbursable amount is made on a "fee-for-service type " basis, which means that a set amount is reimbursed based on the type of dental treatment received.
- With Dental Reimbursement Plan - With this plan, you have to pay for your dental treatment first, then bring the receipt to your employer where they will reimburse you up to a specified limit.
- with dental Discount plans, one would get a specific discount on the dental services they received from any of the dental clinic in the participating discount plan . Discount plan require the member to pay for an enrollment fee and a basic monthly fee to be liable for the discount plan.
d. Who is the target customer :
- One need to define clearly if you need an insurance plan specifically for yourself, for the family or for the group ( such as a company ). The premium and the overall plan coverage vary substantially between one another.
e. What is the monthly premium :
- One of the key factor most people tend to look for when selecting a dental plan is the amount of the monthly premium. Theoretically, the higher the premium, the better the insurance coverage. However, one need to understand that they should not be basing on the amount of the monthly premium alone to decide their dental plan but to review what kind of services and treatments are covered in each of these insurance plan and select the one which best fit your needs.
- When shopping for individual, family or group dental insurance quotes, always remember the key criteria key criteria which need to prioritized. example : for individual, one might be more concern on the basic treatments, whereas for the family, one might wanted to get a plan which cover more orthodontic treatments as your family might required them. Lastly, for group, it is the premium which matter most as company normally will offer basic plan for basic dental treatments only.
There is no one "best" insurance plan for everyone. Some plan definitely works better for you and your family than others. Some plans will require a certain co-payment for services, or meet a specific deductible before the dental insurance company begins payment while others may limit coverage to a specific dollar-amount maximum per year.
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