health and dental insurance

Okay I am so freaking confused by this stuff! My job does not offer insurance and I need something now! If nothing else I need at least dental because I have a cavity in a front tooth which is making me very afraid to smile! And I have a filling that has come out in the back I believe! S I am trying to do some research on what the best options are. I was kind of looking at a dental discount plan because the pricing seems much better but I dont know! Does anyone have any input on this? I am so confused its not even funny!

I have dental through my work.

I do know that it takes some time before a plan kicks in once you sign up. You aren't covered from the day you sign up. I think it takes 30 days before you are eligible to make a claim, but that can be better answered by the insurance company when you call for rates.

Also, dental insurance rates are not cheap! You might want to price out the cost of the plan per month and tally it up for the year, and then price out the cost of a single filling, and 2 cleanings per year. Compare the cost. It might very well be cheaper to just pay for the procedures without insurance.

Try calling Blue Cross and find out the prices of their plans. I know some years ago when I worked for a company that didn't have dental/health insurance I called Blue Cross and at that time they told me that my price per month for private insurance just for me was going to cost me $60.00 per month! I opted to not have insurance and just to pay for the procedures myself.

I'm in Canada by the way, so prices will likely be different.

Most dental insurance are worse than the get a discount card...

Why ... they take 6-12 months before they cover anything... then most only cover up to 500 $ -1000 a year... Here that was 2-4 single fillings...

Depending on income you may have access to a dental clinic... In my area for one person the income is 27000 or less a year or roughly 250% of the national poverty level...

insurance also runs 30-45$ a month on ave ... 45times 12 =540 30 time s 12 360... ie you can get an exam and filling at regular price by just putting it in a savings account

Originally Posted by sharky

Most dental insurance are worse than the get a discount card...

Why ... they take 6-12 months before they cover anything... then most only cover up to 500 $ -1000 a year... Here that was 2-4 single fillings...

Depending on income you may have access to a dental clinic... In my area for one person the income is 27000 or less a year or roughly 250% of the national poverty level...

insurance also runs 30-45$ a month on ave ... 45times 12 =540 30 time s 12 360... ie you can get an exam and filling at regular price by just putting it in a savings account

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around here you only get help from the state if you are under 21. Otherwise no go, unless you go to one of the insanely crowded, have to wait inline over night, clinics for free care.

I do not have dental right now either but went for a cleaning. My dentist gave me the option of paying it off over 4-5 months.
I do have health insurance, but it isn't that great. But it is something.
The more I learn about it, the more I do not like this insurance system.

I have to say that our insurance sucks and it's better than many have. I've had some health problems over the last few years. Still paying off my share. Dental really isn't worth what we pay. What they pay for is preventive care...and that is all good if all you ever need is teeth cleaning and a check-up. We are getting to the age where we need a bit more tooth care and repair. Our insurance pays so little of that. I've paid out of pocket more than they are going to pay for. I need to revisit our insurance coverage. It seems like you pay and pay...with the idea that when you need care, your ins. will help you pay for the majority. Hah!

I have fairly decent medical insurance, but no dental insurance. They send me info on buying supplemental dental insurance all the time but it costs so much it wouldn't be worth it. I'll just pay my dental expenses out of pocket and deal with it. It doesn't do any good to pay $1000 a year for dental insurance if I only need $1000 worth of dental work every 5 years (example).

Our dental insurance is expensive and terrible. It does pay for routine cleanings and on a percentage basis for more major work. But it would probably be better for us to put the money we spend on the insurance in the bank and wait for dental trouble. However, since you'll only be covering yourself, you should be able to get a reasonable plan. As far as health insurance goes, I'd try to get something if I could possibly afford it. Even if it's only a major medical policy (which doesn't cover doctor visits but does pay on ER, hospital stays and surgery).

We have dental and eye insurance through DH's insurance plan at work. The dental covers regular cleanings and pay a nice percentage of other work. Pays for all x-rays and the like.

We just got new glasses a couple months ago. The eye insurance paid for the exams and I think paid about 50% of the cost of the glasses.

Then again, in the long run, our premiums pay for that and then some!

But since we both have insurance through our jobs and we can always cross-file w/the other's insurance company, we've never had to pay a penny for any bill for hospitalization or anything. I was in for knee surgery in July and we never paid a cent. Thank goodness.

Our doctor co-pay is $10.

thats why I was kind of looking into the discount dental plan. Most are $100 a month and take the cost down by half.
I did a lot of calling yesterday and the first time visit with xrays will run me around $125, but the filling will be around $150. The discount plan takes visits down to $20 and the filling to $60 so it almost pays for itself right then! But I dont know! I need at least 3 fillings and I am looking into getting either lumineers or invisiline braces within a few years

If you have problems now you need to have them fixed now. The longer you wait the worse it gets. Both health wise and price wise.

Fix now then shop for insurance later.

I pay for my own medical insurance, but don't have dental. It's hard to buy individual dental insurance in Connecticut. Anthem doesn't offer it and Aetna turned me down. For Aetna I needed to be on their medical plan and they wouldn't accept me because I take one or two prescriptions for minor complaints. AARP offers dental, but you pay something like $550 in premiums for $1,000 of coverage, which makes no sense. I visit the dentist once a year and pay for it myself and it's really not that expensive.

Is there a teaching dental hospital in your area? Because they need patients to practice on. Not that I would ever do that.

Originally Posted by capt_jordi

thats why I was kind of looking into the discount dental plan. Most are $100 a month and take the cost down by half.
I did a lot of calling yesterday and the first time visit with xrays will run me around $125, but the filling will be around $150. The discount plan takes visits down to $20 and the filling to $60 so it almost pays for itself right then! But I dont know! I need at least 3 fillings and I am looking into getting either lumineers or invisiline braces within a few years

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Most insurance and discount plans DO NOT cover Lumineers or Invisalign. Cosmetic dentistry, you're on your own. And if all you need is the 3 fillings and the exam, it looks like it wouldn't be worth it for you to get the discount plan.

The math, for one year, counting 3 fillings and one exam:

With the discount plan: you pay $100 per month, $1200 a year. Plus $60 for each filling = $180. Plus $20 for the exam. So you're out $1400.

Without any kind of plan, paying out of pocket: you pay $125 for the exam, plus $150 each for the fillings = $450. So you're out $575.

I'd say that dental plans usually aren't worth it for most people. Now, if you find that the discount plan does cover cosmetic procedures, and after doing the math you see that it would actually save you a decent amount, it might be worth it to get a plan for a limited time, as long as you cancel it as soon as you don't need it anymore.

Originally Posted by Willowy

Most insurance and discount plans DO NOT cover Lumineers or Invisalign. Cosmetic dentistry, you're on your own. And if all you need is the 3 fillings and the exam, it looks like it wouldn't be worth it for you to get the discount plan.

The math, for one year, counting 3 fillings and one exam:

With the discount plan: you pay $100 per month, $1200 a year. Plus $60 for each filling = $180. Plus $20 for the exam. So you're out $1400.

Without any kind of plan, paying out of pocket: you pay $125 for the exam, plus $150 each for the fillings = $450. So you're out $575.

I'd say that dental plans usually aren't worth it for most people. Now, if you find that the discount plan does cover cosmetic procedures, and after doing the math you see that it would actually save you a decent amount, it might be worth it to get a plan for a limited time, as long as you cancel it as soon as you don't need it anymore.

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the discount plan is actually $100 per YEAR not per month. I wouldnt even be looking at it if it were that price per month! LOL! Some of the higher priced ones did cover lumineers but they were alot higher per year!

I work in a dental office- dental insurance is really only worth it if you get it through your employer as part of a group policy, and even then, the coverage varies- it's all dependant on how much your employer wants to shell out for the insurance. In most cases, the insurance you can buy on your own is going to cost you almost as much as it pays out, so it's really not saving anything.

Dental discount plans are a joke- the dentists who participate in those are less than desirable. They want to make more money than do good work. There are lots of ways to cut corners in dentistry and you're going to end up paying for the work to be re-done or have the more invasive procedure done because the tooth is unsaveable.

My advice- look for a dental school in your area or a clinic that works on a sliding scale. Also, could you try to apply for a line of credit through CareCredit and find a good dentist that participates with them? In the future you could also use that for your cosmetic surgery.

Definitely get this treated sooner rather than later. What starts as a cavity (usually $350 or less to fix, depending on the amount of decay/tooth it's on) quickly becomes a root canal and crown ($900 for the root canal, $1300 for the crown) and that can turn into an extraction ($300) that usually needs to be replaced with something ($4000 implant & crown, or a $2000 bridge).....it's much cheaper to get it fixed sooner.

Originally Posted by capt_jordi

the discount plan is actually $100 per YEAR not per month. I wouldnt even be looking at it if it were that price per month! LOL! Some of the higher priced ones did cover lumineers but they were alot higher per year!

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Well, that's much better! LOL. I wondered why anyone would pay that much for a dental plan.