But by investing in a good dental insurance policy, you can significantly cut down on that cost.
How Can Dental Insurance Help Me Save?
While plan-types vary, if you stay in-network with your dental plan, you can save a lot of money – especially on the more basic and common types of dental care.
You might have to pay a small annual deductible of, say, $100 before the plan kicks in, but it’s well worth it. At that point you will have 100% of your preventative care covered. That means checks up and teeth cleanings are free. And consultations will also normally be free – instead of, perhaps, $100 just to find out what’s wrong!
Usually, around 80% of simple operations like filling cavities will be covered. Consider that a filling could easily cost $200, which means you’d pay only $40 if you have dental insurance. Multiply that by two or three if you come down with multiple cavities at once, which isn’t at all uncommon.
Finally, even for extractions, bridges, crowns, dentures, and many other “major” dental procedures, you still generally save 50%. Consider that these operations can cost hundreds of dollars or even $1,000 or more each, and you begin to understand how dental insurance could save you a lot of money.
Group VS Individual Dental Insurance
Around 90% of people with dental insurance in the US get it through a group policy. Usually, they get it through their employer, but the AARP and some other groups also can get a discounted group rate.
You may only pay $20 or $30 a month with a group-rate dental plan. A non-group plan might cost you as much as twice that amount. However, that’s not always true – you might pay only a small amount more.
Plus, the rates will vary a lot based on insurer, the nature of the policy, and other factors. With individual policies, you might be able to get a discount based on your health condition or other criteria that a group plan couldn’t take into account.
So the lesson to learn is: if you can get a group plan, do so, but don’t despair if you can’t because there are good deals out there on dental insurance even without getting a group rate discount.
But there are also two special “rules” to be aware of if you buy an individual plan:
- You will have to sign a one-year contract (at minimum). Your being covered isn’t based on being employed at a particular place as with group dental insurance.
- There are 6 to 18 month wait periods before coverage kicks in for certain high-priced dental procedures. This is to prevent people from signing up to get an expensive dental surgery done and then quickly dropping the policy.
Buying dental insurance can be complicated, but it normally also saves you money. Contact Flagler County (FL) Insurance Agency to learn more!