Today’s question is from Jill:
I recently left my job with a large corporation to work with my husband at our business. I made sure we had individual health insurance in place before I left, but I haven’t done anything about dental or vision insurance.
I’m thinking that negotiating the best deal for a cash payment may be the way to go, but I’m interested in any other good options for dental and/or vision insurance for our family. -Jill
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
I haven’t read all of the previous comments so someone may have already said this. 🙂 I work at a dental office, and we advise our patients , if they are considering purchasing individual insurance, to really weigh the premium/payout ratio. Sometimes it’s really hard to get the insurance to pay out the $1000 yearly max! But if you put the amount you would already be paying for premiums into a savings account, then the money is there and no one will say you can’t use it, you aren’t eligible for a procedure, or they will only pay 30% of something. Sometimes no insurance is the best bet.
I used to get cavities all the time as a kid, but after we got married and moved around some, we didn’t have dental insurance and went without visits for 2 years. The first dentist we visited for cleanings told me I needed 7 fillings and a root canal. I went home and cried, then decided to get a second opinion. The 2nd dentist I saw told me I only needed 2 small fillings. I cried again, this time in relief. He probably thought I was a nut job, but I was so thankful we 2nd guessed the first guy. I say this in response to someone above who needed 12 fillings after a period without visits. Not that her dr. was wrong, but mine was, and I’m glad we called his bluff. When shopping around, we tend to look at the bottom line in terms of dollars, but choosing the wrong doctor can be a very bad investment money-wise and health-wise. I tend to look at it from a backward view- if you have a good dr. you trust, ask which insurance or discount providers he accepts, and then choose based on that. You can then pick the one that meets your needs.
We usually go for dental. It comes out to the same or less with the monthly premiums, which are generally not that high for us. When it comes time for orthodontia for our daughter, though, we will go out of pocket with that one.
Vision, definitely skip the insurance. Most eyeglass places will do your exams for free, and if you get AAA you get 30% off the top of any purchase at LensCrafters — last time I did this I got $100 off my $300 glasses, which paid for my AAA premium that day (and then some).
A word about the dentists who post ads for $99 (or whatever cost) specials that include exam, cleaning, and xrays — my husband did this once, and discovered later that though they take the xrays, you can’t have copies of them without paying an exorbitant fee, somewhere around $400 at the time. So you have to stick with that dentist afterwards.
I don’t know if anyone here is interested, but I personally know parents who have healed their kids’ cavities in a matter of weeks while waiting for a dentist appointment.
One mom had her kids brush their teeth with health-and-wisdom magnesium oil ( it doesn’t taste great — I bribe my kids to use it regularly).
Other moms have given their kids fermented cod liver oil and/or butter oil, which are very rich in vitamin A.
In each case the cavity healed — the hole was gone and the tooth was pristine-white
.
All of these items can be found on amazon.com
We decided that instead of paying a monthly insurance (or yearly) premium, we would stick that money aside to use for cash-pay services. When I compared the costs of services for cash-pay versus what I would have to pay using insurance, there wasn’t much of a difference, factor in the costs of the premiums and well it was a no-brainer that we were coming out ahead by not having insurance. If your insurance is more generous with what they pay for, then perhaps it would be better to have the insurance.
After reading all the replies, I have only read one response that promoted using not only insurance and an FSA account(flexible spending account). The combination of using these two options, if your employer offers them, saves an incredible amount of money and offers a tax savings too because the FSA is not taxed at all.
I would never go without dental insurance because after living in the 3 states in 3 years, while both of our sons were in braces, the savings were absolutely needed even with our flexible spending account.
For those of you who are self employed, you can start a Health Spending Account which can be used to help with the copays. The benefit of a HSA vs a FSA is that the HSA money is rolled over year to year. FSA funds must be used every year and BOTH account do take some careful estimation for copays & Rxs.
I think that the tax savings for the annual 5K that we put into our FSA account is roughly $700 dollars and we prefer to pay the least amount of taxes to the government! It is so convenient to swipe the FSA debit card and know that the copays are taken care of.
For dental, you might look into
http://oramedia.com/
It’s a sight about “dental self-sufficiency” – how to get equipment to clean your teeth yourself, prevention, etc . . . I have learned some great things from their eBook. It is well worth the money.
We don’t have either right now. We use America’s Best for our eye exams. If you have one close by, you can get three years of exams in their club for $99 and we managed to get them to take $20 off of each of our new club memberships. That’s less than a copay for eyeglass and contact exam. Their glasses aren’t too bad on cost and you get a discount on the contacts as a club member. The biggest savings is really in the exam, though.
For any issues we have, we use our health insurance plan to go to a covered optometrist. I had to do this a couple years ago and my husband just recently with no cost to us other than a medical copay, so check you medical because they cover some things too.
We have both. Dental insurance has saved us THOUSANDS of dollars over the last 5 years, but we have 9 kids, and the family plan costs the same whether you have one child or nine, and includes twice yearly cleanings, xrays, fluoride, and pays something like 70% of the cost of fillings. Also, 50% of braces, which is a very big deal.
Vision insurance seems to be less of a great deal, but we are still saving since we have 5 of us in glasses or contacts. One of whom breaks his glasses quite often, so I’m glad we get a reduced cost pair each year!
There are tons of great suggestions already posted so I won’t comment on whether or not to get the insurance. My family of 4 has been on dental Cobra for almost 18 months and we will have an 18 month gap between the end of Cobra and when my husband’s employer allows us to enroll in dental. I’ve been looking around for plan. In Michigan there are several options, however, not all of them are great. BCBS has a 6 month waiting period for non-rountine care such as cavities, etc. Not so great. I mentioned this problem at the pediatric dentist and the receptionist handed me a flyer for Humana dental. When I looked at it, it seemed reasonably priced and no waiting period. I have to actually find an insurance in the middle to end of September for a November start date so hopefully they haven’t changed their terms! If there is anyone in Michigan with suggestions for good insurance let me know.
My husband is a financial broker and helps people with these decisions and weigh their options everyday. Talk to a professional!
My vision insurance is included with my dental. We have 4 kids all teenagers ans older and have carried 2 dental insurances. When 3 of the 4 needed braces it was so worth it. Instead of $8000 per child for braces it cost me under $1500 each. Also, with 2 insurances we haven’t had to pay anything for root canals or for the kids to have wisdom teeth pulled. Also, for vision insurance we have double coverage but since we don’t pay extra for mine that is a wash. However, all of us have vision problems and we can go to a chain store/Dr so cost is low. Hope you can work it out to your benefit. Just remember, you never know what will happen.
What type of dental insurance exactly do you have?
Had to pull out my card. It is Delta Dental. On the card it says it is a vision discount plan not insurance. So as long as you go to approved providers you still save!
Go to http://www.dentalplans.com and you’ll see where you can obtain a dental discount plan for about $100 a year (individual) or $150 for family. You can see if your dentist participates in the dental discount plan. It can be used over and over, no limits. Can be used for cosmetic work as well. Most dental plans limit you to $1000 per person, but there are no limits with these plans. Aetna is a well-known company and they offer a dental discount plan through this site. I came across this info when looking for a way to help with paying for my daughter’s upcoming dental bills. With insurance, we still have $1500 that must be paid before we can schedule her procedures. I can’t afford that, but don’t want to wait because her teeth will get worse. Unfortunately her dentist does not participate and cannot offer me any other savings (we already have a care credit acct that has a huge balance…they won’t give us anymore). So while this discount plan won’t work in my situation (only because of our dentist), it may help someone else out. If anyone knows any other options for my situation…please comment!
It’s not the annual, predictable expenses like cleaning and exams that will get you (financially speaking). It’s the unforeseen.
Generally speaking, dental/vision coverage is a good idea. For a family with children, I think it’s pretty much mandatory.
Medical expenses are the biggest reason for bankruptcies. If you choose to forego coverage and “self-insure,” I’d recommend amassing a big pile of cash to cover contingencies.
We have chosen to not purchase separate vision and dental insurance. The main reason is that we currently go to local “small town” doctors and the insurance wouldn’t cover them. We would probably save money with the dental, but we would have to switch to a large provider, and we’re just not comfortable with that for our children. We don’t go strictly every 6 months, and we stagger appointments and x-rays. We purchased a water pic to improve our home care, too.
I recently dropped my dental insurance. Groupon has amazing deals on vision/ dental visits. Of course my husband and I are healthy with good eyes and teeth. I just use glasses.
I’ve worked in dentistry for many years and I certainly have seen dentists give considerable discounts for cash only patients. One thing to consider when discussing this with your dentist–particularly someone you’ve been loyal to for years– is that they might be willing to offer you a discounted rate if you come during light traffic times of the day or if you are willing to be on a “will call” list if someone else cancels. Doctors and their staff are much less likely to give you a discounted rate if you expect their prime appointment times or if you yourself cancel appointments on a regular basis. For someone like me, who is now a stay at home mommy, going at 10 am isn’t much of an inconvenience and I’m happy to do so if it means I can get the same great treatment for a discounted price.
There is a dental hygiene school at the university I go to and I believe for a basic cleaning that it is like $20 which is less than my co-pay through insurance. So you may want to look for a dental hygiene school near you.
Whichever you do, make sure you keep up your regular dental checkups. We didn’t have dental insurance for 4 years, and I didn’t go to the dentist during that period because I had NEVER had a cavity. When we got insurance again, I found out I had 12 cavities!!! 4 needed very costly root canals and crowns. I spent over two years trying to catch up on dental work and it cost a lot more than paying cash for checkups would have. I wish I had known things could develop and deteriorate so quickly–I also had 3 of my children during those years, which the dentist said can sap calcium and affect dental health. I thought my teeth would always be fine because I consistently brushed and flossed, but I learned the hard way how important it is to catch things early!
We live in NV and here there is a program called Access to Healthcare. I’m sure other states have similar programs. It is NOT insurance, but a discount program, and you do qualify for the discount by your income (though I feel that the income-person ratio is quite high). I did dental and vision for just myself for a pretty cheap rate per month, and it is basically about 50-70% all services at certain places. I needed a lot of dental work and this saved me A TON of money. They also do healthcare (which we currently use since we don’t have insurance). It may be something to look in to!
My husband is a dentist and he strongly believes that no one needs dental insurance. For a huge majority of people, it is much cheaper to pay for the cleaning and x-rays twice a year (and most dentists charge less if you pay upfront). Then you can save that money for other things or put it in your emergency fund in case you do need something major. It would save money (for you and the dentist) in the long run and make dentists MUCH happier if employers stopped offering dental insurance.
If the patient has dental insurance, the dentist will receive a reduced price for the procedures, just as physicians do when a patient has insurance.
With all due respect, no dentist wants their patients to have insurance, because it is less income for the dentist. Sure, dental procedures are usually relatively modest in cost – until they are not. I know tons of people who have huge dental costs.
In the long run over your lifetime, it is much cheaper for just about everyone to not have dental insurance. It would be a rare person that needed SO much dental work that the system worked out in their favor (which again, is what makes it totally different than health insurance because obviously there are lots of catastrophic health problems that would destroy a family financially).
It is less out of pocket for you and much easier for the dentist. My husband offers a cheaper price than insurance for people who pay with cash because it is so difficult to bill insurance companies and convince them that procedures were necessary. Maybe you could find a dentist that is willing to give a discount for paying cash. I know there are a lot of them in our area.
Not sure if anyone has posted this yet but I get my glasses online from Zenni optical, some start at 7 bucks INCLUDING lenses and frames. You will need to get an eye exam and just request your prescription when you are leaving. I just bought two prescription glasses and paid 42.00 including shipping. Sometimes they have specials for free shipping on orders over 50. Also good idea to check for circulars for oral care, I think as long as you have good oral hygeine you could pass on insurance in this area for a while if you absolutely have to. However don’t let your lack of insurance prevent you from having regular cleanings and checkups. Poor oral care has been linked to cardiovascular problems, pre-term labor and more 🙁 And make sure when you are negotiating a payment plan that you aren’t accidentally signing up for their credit card!
We love zenni too. My hubby is horrible about keeping track of his glasses and is constantly loosing or breaking them. He started ordering from zenni and gets three pairs at a time so if they get lost or chipped we’re no longer out $200-$400 like before. We’ve been really happy with the quality of the glasses from zenni and he usually gets the $10 pair. For us the expense isn’t in the eye exam, less than $50 at a local shop or even Costco, but the price of the lens and frames are what gets ya.
I have really bad teeth, it’s in my genetics so I wouldn’t drop my dental plan. We do have a choice between a regular plan and an enhanced plan. We did enhanced this year because we had a lot of dental work to get done between cavities and sealants. Next year, we will drop back to the regular plan. As for vision the only one in the house with bad vision is my husband. Since I’m a grown up and have decent eyes, I go to the eye doctor every other year…it works for us.
If you decide to go without dental or vision, make sure you put money aside in your emergency fund for dental or vision emergencies.
My dentist keeps our care simple because he knows we pay out of pocket. We get 5% off if we pay that day in cash as well. We haven’t a need for vision yet. But we have had very little problem paying for dental care out of pocket.
I would definitely say check your major medical. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield and I needed an eye exam. I went into the eye doctor and told them I had no eye insurance as we skipped this option on my husband’s benefits this year. The receptionist told me that it is very common for major medical insurance companies to pay for an eye exam once per year. She told me hardly anyone knows about this. I had to pay only $20 to get a top quality exam. Then they had a special on glasses two pairs for $100. That was cheaper than paying the premiums each month. Check into your major medical. Call some eye care places and ask if they can file your major medical for benefits. It worked great for me….just yesterday!
I think we pay around $250 a year for family dental coverage in MD. We purchased it privately through Delta Care USA. I wouldn’t necessary recommend them unless there are several in-network dentists and specialists in your area. We’ve had some really long wait times on pre-authorization of benefits for out-of-network providers. I’ve found in the past when I asked about privately paying in cash without insurance the prices were still drastically higher (i.e. $225 vs. $85 for a pediatric filling, or only a 10% discount off of the normal price vs. a low negotiated price with insurance). As our yearly premium is so low, we get our money’s worth out of the insurance.
We do have a vision discount plan attached to our health care plan ($60 a year) that probably wasn’t worth it when I was the only one using it but now that my kids will need to get their eyes checked it will probably pay for itself in exam fees.
We have super cheap dental insurance through my husband’s work (where we have our medical insurance too ) – we pay nothing for exams, x-rays, routine stuff. We pay 25% for bigger proceedures, which thankfully we haven’t had to worry about.
We do not have vision insurance. My husband, son and I all have eye issues that require a specialist. My husband’s glasses cost over $1000 (specially ground custom lenses) and my son’s were about $600. Mine aren’t as bad – about $200. We get a discount for paying cash in full (by check so we have an additional record – 15% off) and for staying with the same doctor for a long period of time (5% off for loyalty after 7 years). We also get an additional 5% off because we don’t have vision insurance. We always purchase glasses with a 2 year warrenty on the frames (necessary with kids!) and make our next appointment when we finish up. I’m fortunate that I don’t need new lenses with any kind of regularity, but Hubby needs new lenses every 18 months roughtly and my on every 6 or so (they have a genetic, progressive, eye condition that is rare). If possible we replace only the lenses. To do that, we make sure we have frames that are full frames – none with the “wire” around the bottom half of the lens.
We make it work for us by having a Flex Spend Account that is direct deposit from my husband’s paycheck. We put about $5000/yr in there and between 4 eye exams, glasses for 3 and all the co-pays and prescriptions for regular medical visits it gets used.
We don’t at this time have the option of purchasing vision insurance at a rate that would make it financially reasonable – any surgeries and prescriptions would be covered under our regular medical insurance and the price of everything else is cheaper than what we’d pay in premiums.
Hope that’s helpful!
Lea
Starting next year, the limit on FSAs is $2,500. It’s part of the new healthcare law. 🙁
I agree with what everyone saying you have to decide what is best for your family. With that being said, you need to determine the cost of each person getting their dental and vision exams as recommended. Then compare that to the monthly premiums, the out-of-pocket cost of having insurance, and any family history. There are some instances where putting the money away will get you further ahead, and others where having insurance will get you further ahead.
This may vary by state, and you should check with your insurance agent – Also, if you happened to have taken a high-deductible health plan that you can have a health savings account (HSA) with, remember the money you put into your HSA can be used for anything medical -eye, dental, prescriptions, examinations, etc. Any money placed into this account annually (there is a maximum, and the maximum changes annually) is a tax-deduction. Lastly, and on another note, if you and your husband are both pay-rolled employees for your business, or there are other employees, you may be eligible for group coverage through your business -Again, this may vary by state.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
Check your existing medical coverage. My Aetna plan includes one free eye exam a year per member. My son has to see an Ophthalmologist, so his charges are considered medical. We don’t participate in the vision plan through my employer. Instead you can get coupons for screenings and glasses. For instance, we bought a Groupon last year for lenses.
Also, many elementary schools have screenings conducted by the local Lion’s Club. If your child goes to public school then they’ll be screened. You’d need to check with your school, though.
The point I’m trying to make is this: If your family is otherwise healthy and doesn’t require visits more than once a year (for vision), then participating in the plan probably is not be worth it.
For dental: Many group offices offer dental plans. If your family only needs twice a year checkups and cleanings, then the dental plans will be worth it. If you know someone in your family will need extensive work done over the next year (root canal, braces, surgery), then the dental insurance is worth it.
I echo this suggestion. Go over your medical insurance policy carefully.
Our plan covers 1 eye exam every two years for each family member with a small co-pay. The other vision plans available through DH’s employer don’t work out to be financially advantageous in our situation.
Also, our medical insurance covers some oral surgery, including extraction of impacted wisdom teeth. Because we have a big family, we choose to carry dental insurance for regular cleanings and cavities, but we crunched the numbers and realized orthodontic coverage was not financially beneficial.
Agreed!!!
Most people pay SO MUCH MORE in insurance premiums and deductibles than they do in actual doctor visits and emergencies. Plus, it’s important to know if you speak directly to the billing department of the hospital and stay persistant, they will reduce your original bill. (hospitals bill up to three times as much as the actual amount because they expect the insurance agencies to negotiate with them).
It’s also important to realize that most general plans don’t cover you if you get cancer. (the argument most people us to justify insurance) That usually is a separate plan. Which means you could pay thousands and thousands of dollars every year, and when you really need it. . . you won’t be covered.
My husband and I put the amount we would be spending on premiums into a separate savings account. We don’t go to the doctor very often, so paying cash is no problem for us. Having babies is the biggest medical expense we experience, but being uninsured has proven to be cheaper for us in that regards as well! In fact, with the plan my husband was offered through his work, this baby would cost us $23,000 WITH insurance, but we’re seeing a midwife and only paying $3000. Talk about a rip off!!!
“Most people pay SO MUCH MORE in insurance premiums and deductibles than they do in actual doctor visits and emergencies. ”
Just because you paid more, that doesn’t mean “most people” pay more.
I paid just under $1000 to have each of my children (in 2008 and 2010) because I have insurance–really good insurance through my employer. This includes premiums and co-pays. But I don’t assume that “most people” will have this experience. Even if I’d been on my husband’s insurance, we would have paid $50 per month for premiums and then had a $5800 deductible– still well under $23,000. Insurance is not always a rip off.
In the last four years our family has had 4 surgeries. Two of them were emergancies and 2 were not able to be put off or ignored. Those 4 surgeries would have cost $225,000 plus without insurance. Hospitals do not give huge discounts and neither do doctors. Big medical insurance companies can negotiate those low rates but they are not available to the regular patient who is uninsured. One of our hospitals does offer a 25% discount for cash if you pay before the procedure but the discount is not available for emergencies. It would have still been $30-40 thousand dollars in CASH per surgery to get the discount. It is not realistic to think that going without insurance is cheaper if you have to have an emergency surgery or are in an accident. You are gambling with your families’ financial well being by going without insurance. If our government has it’s way we will all be required to be insured anyway.
It totally depends on the plan! Other than an iron supplement, my current pregnancy will cost me nothing in healthcare costs beyond our monthly premiums. My prenatal vitamins are free and there are no co-pays for visits. We have no deductible for in-network care.
Sorry, meant to say “pregnancy and delivery”.
There isn’t a blanket answer since you really need to evaluate all the factors before deciding. I also own a small business with my husband and I take care of all the insurance areas. During my evaluation for my family, these are the things that I considered:
1.) How much is the monthly premium for vision and/or dental insurance? Then multiple this by 12 to figure out the annual cost.
2.) Look at the details of what services vision and/or dental insurance will cover and the percentage.
3.) How much will your family be using this insurance? Does anyone have major dental work that needs to be done or have major vision expenses?
4.) Depending on the answers to the questions above, you may consider just socking away money every month to save for vision and/or dental expenses. This is just like when one is deciding between a regular health insurance plan or a HSA plan.
5.) Ask your dentist if they offer discounts if you paid cash. They are business owners too and everything in business is negotiable. I always negotiate with my dentist and they accommodate me where they can.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Check out local universities! We have a county college in my area that has a dental program and they offer free cleanings to anyone, anytime. That’s a big money saver to start with even if you do have dental insurance.
Pre-price the services you will need. We paid for dental insurance two years ago. We had just moved and would need to get established with a dentist. The new patient exam, cleaning, x-rays were more expensive than the routine cleanings. Plus, our two boys were needing to see the dentist for the first time. So, for us it made sense. Last year, we did not pay for insurance (our teeth are healthy) and just paid out of pocket for cleanings (no x-rays needed… we limit how many we receive, especially for the kids). This year, we were due for x-rays again and so it was cheaper to go with the insurance.
I would also say that it is better to pay for insurance if it means you are more likely to go to the dentist. Sometimes, paying out of pocket makes it harder to go.
If you decide to get insurance, make sure your dentist accepts it. When I got dental insurance through my former employer, my dentist was considered “out of network.” Between the balance the insurance wouldn’t cover plus the monthly amount taken from my pay, it cost more than if I just paid the dentist myself.
Also, make sure to shop around for a dentist. When I needed a root canal & 2 crowns, 1 dentist was going to charge me around $4,000 for just the work on 1 tooth. It’s not a good sign when they want you to fill out a finance application with a bank at the dentist office. The dentist I’m with now ended up charging me around $2,500 for all the work on both teeth. & my dentist knows I only pay cash, so he will discount services especially if it comes to something like x-rays & I say I won’t get them otherwise.
We typically don’t carry dental or vision insurance, since our employers do not subsidize it. I calculated that economy vision centers are cheaper than insurance, since we have a pretty set cost for glasses/contacts/exams. As we get older and have more vision needs, that may not always be the case.
We have pretty healthy teeth, and an occasional checkup/cleaning is cheaper than the dental plans available to us. However, what has happened in the three years since we had dental coverage is…nobody has gone to the dentist even once. It turns out we can save some money by not having insurance, and even more money by never going to the dentist at all! This isn’t great for our long-term dental health, so we may rethink the plan in the next couple years.
Thank you all for the feedback 🙂 It’s funny that Crystal posted my question today as I spent a couple of hours researching dental and vision plans in our area. After talking to our dentists, I’ve found that I can pay the yearly premium for what we would pay in our normal cleaning (2x/year) fees.. even for a cash payment. Doesn’t seem to me there is much of a discount. It almost seems dental insurance is a no brainer at this point.
When I had vision insurance through work, it never paid other than to cover the annual visits. We don’t have a history of any eye problems other than glasses so I’m still undecided on that.
I really do appreciate all the input and suggestions! 🙂
I’d base it on genetics and general health care you have received in the past. Our teeth are good/ our eyes are not. With the cash pay discount it would be cheaper to pay out of pocket for the dentist. However, one cavity or chipped tooth would negate that. I’m chicken. I’d keep dental. My vision doesn’t pay enough to cover the premium. I have to pay out of pocket for most of it anyway.
I would suggest that you do some comparison shopping with insurance companies and dental offices. Make sure your benefits are the same from each insurance company that your are checking out. Find out if your dentist is “in Network”. Compare the two and see what fits best for your family. We went without dental or vision insurance for 2 years, during this time I did negotiate with the dental office. Three years ago we purchased insurance thru my husbands employer and I’ve never regretted it. We have saved a lot of money by having insurance.
This is a good question. In our case, the only person who ever went to the eye doctor was my husband. Since having Lasik, none of us have been in 2 years. But, our premium is a little over $225 a year which is not a whole lot if something were needed to be done.
We don’t have either. Depends on if you have good eyes and teeth.
We have bad teeth, unfortunately, and our dentist doesn’t offer a cash discount. But premiums were so high (about $130 a month) that we decided to risk no insurance. We calculated out the costs of cleanings, xrays, a few cavities, and decided that we would come out ahead without insurance. Then my daughter had about $2000 worth of cavities. Or was it $3000? Can’t remember – too painful! But we lost our gamble that year. Subsequent years have not been as expensive, but there have still been too many cavities. Now that we have four kids, and based on our history, we are probably going to add the dental rider to our plan.
This is decision that you should not make without getting prices from your dentist (with and without insurance), and sitting down and crunching the numbers (how much are premiums and out-of-pocket costs/deductible for the whole year versus the costs of 2 cleanings, etc. and some fillings for each person in the family).
I am interested in knowing how to secure individual insurance coverage. I too am leaving a corporate plan and need individual coverage including health insurance but am not sure where to begin to find a good reasonable plan. Do most of the large health organizations offer individual plans? Any info would be appreciated!
We purchase ours with the same insurance company that does our home owners & car insurance. It offers a discount since we carry all three with them.
We are looking at leaving the corporate world, but are nervous about insurance. All I hear is how expensive and cost-prohibitive it is. What are the costs? Where are some places for us to start the search?
We have BCBS-NC and I think you can go through the company itself. We just called our local insurance agent who does our home & car insurance and checked out the rates if we bought through him vs buying ourselves. It was cheaper, but still ridiculous what we pay a month for 4 people who are healthy, $500 per month and I have no maternity coverage. What BCBS charges varies. It depends on where you live as well as your health & age. I can say our over-all coverage is good, and includes free well visits & mamagrams, and low co-pays and when we’ve needed it, I’m glad we had it. It’s just anti-bankruptcy insurance anyway. I’d be willing to take a chance and go without it, but my DH won’t hear of it. He had emergency surgery a few years ago & BCBS was very good to pay for what he needed. We’d tried a cheaper insurance before this, but weren’t comfortable with what they covered even though our rates were cheaper. If we’d have had it when DH needed his surgery, we’d have been screwed. I would do as Jill suggested below and check around with the more well known names, you can usually check rates on-line, then call your local insurance agent and they can answer a lot of your questions about coverage and advise you better than someone like me—a random person on a blog. Good Luck!
I don’t mean to be a downer, but please, please think very carefully about leaving a job that carries insurance with it. My husband and I both have private (which covers our kids) and it just costs a fortune. To make the cost affordable, we have a high deductible.
My husband works for himself. I left my job because of childcare and health issues – that I was burned out (true)
was not a factor. If I was just unhappy and could see into the future, no way would I leave – I would stay bc of the health insurance.
I would consult with several experts, and also do a few “worst case scenarios” in terms of health problems that might arise.
Our individual plan is through Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). I think United Healthcare, Aetna and Cigna all offer individual plans as well (I’m sure there are TONS more companies). I did hours of research on policies, including MSM, before deciding to go with BCBS.
I would recommend giving yourself at least 30-60 days prior to your planned last day of coverage through your employer to start the process. While I wouldn’t call it hard, it does take some time. I ended up cancelling my group policy a month before I left work because the individual policy had been approved. I didn’t want to chance waiting another 30 days.
I didn’t need a policy with maternity coverage, so we were able to get a policy with a reasonable annual premium and good coverage. It isn’t exactly what I had through the group coverage my employer offered, but I’m very happy with what we ended up with.
I work for a State Health Information assistance Program (SHIP), and one thing I mention to people before they enroll in any plan is to make sure they really, truly understand the health insurance plan that they are signing up for. What are the benefits? What are the costs?
I have found that sometimes people hear from their friends that one company has the best plan, that another company has a horrible plan, etc. and that they will automatically decide to sign up for a plan that their friend chose or stay away from a plan that their friend hates. For example, BCBS is very popular in the state of Massachusetts. However, one BCBS plan can work wonderfully well for one person, and be the worst plan for the next person. The plan that works best for you depends on your individual and family needs.
The fact of the matter is that BCBS, United Healthcare, Aetna, etc. all offer many different types of plans: HMOs, POS, PPO, high deductible plans, etc. that differ depending on your employer group insurance, where you live, etc. There are different premiums, co-payments, deductibles, formularies, and networks (this one is often overlooked!) for each plan. Before signing up for one, do some comparison shopping like Jill and find the one that works best for you!
There are programs that exits in helping you understand your health care options. In MA, you can call SHINE (1-800-AGE-INFO, press 2) if you are a Medicare beneficiary. The SHINE program focuses mostly on medical insurance, but we do have some information on dental options. For those under 65, you can contact Health Care for All in MA, Nationwide, you can contact your SHIP (State Health Information assistance Program) if you are on Medicare. It is free, confidential, unbiased, and no one is trying to sell you anything! Health insurance can be confusing, so feel free to utilize free health insurance counseling programs when they are available!
We received prices from several independent agents/brokerages that gave us quotes for about a half dozen companies. They are pretty knowledgeable and helpful.
My employer provides both. I compared the yearly payment for each with our average cost per year. I have two children who will soon need braces, but since the insurance only covers 50% to a 1,000 lifetime max on ortho, and my kids have never had a cavity, it was not cost effective to do it. Vision insurance was a similar situation. I got free glasses for my daughter this year through Coastal Contacts, I shop around for my son’s contacts, and my optometrist really works with families without insurance. If more of us needed vision (in a few years, maybe) I would reevaluate the math. If I pay more in payments than I would out of pocket, I forgo it. We have emergency savings for true emergencies (if someone knocked a tooth out or something).
We don’t have dental insurance. When my husband worked for a large corp. we had it, but now that he’s considered “self employed” we don’t have dental. I believe there is such a thing as being “insurance poor.” (You pay so much for so many different kinds of insurance that you can’t afford the co-pays when you need to go.) To save money, I cut our cleanings down to once a year with no problem. I don’t get dental x-rays as often as recommended—-not sure the exposure to radiation outweighs the benefits anyway. I also have a good relationship with our dentist, who is great and is not all about money. He is aware that we have no insurance and will have heart to heart talks with me about what is absolutely necessary for us and what isn’t. He’s told me before that a procedure is recommended, but is not really necessary in our situation and we wouldn’t be bad parents if we didn’t do it. He also allows us to pay what we can each month and never hassles us over bills. So for us, having no dental insurance, but having a dentist that is honest about what we need and don’t need and allows us to pay what we can when we can has worked out well.
We’ve never purchased the vision plan from my husband’s company because only one of us has glasses and a once-per-year visit costs $80 at Lenscrafters and we then bought glasses online for $40. This is cheaper than the plan for us. If you have more complicated vision situations or multiple family members with glasses, it could work in your favor to have coverage.
I think dental and vision care are a must, but that’s not what you’re asking.
As for vision insurance — it has never paid for us. In our experience, vision insurance limits you to the places you can go. Plus once you have vision insurance, you can’t take advantage of store deals (such as the buy one get one free deals).
Whenever I have to re-evaluate our insurance choices I do a quick computation. I add up the annual premiums, co-pays, and co-insurances for the most likely scenario. Then I compare that to the likely cost without insurance. I usually also consider worst case scenario just to see if I am comfortable with the “what ifs” Insurance is a game of risk, only you know what type of risk you are willing to take (risk overpaying insurance or overpaying the doctor). If you are fairly healthy teeth and eyes wise you may come out ahead pay-as-you -go, though I’d recommend having money set aside specifically for each (pay yourself a premium so to speak).
I do agree with the previous poster that mentioned that you should get insurance if not having it will cause you to delay routine care. My husband’s vision issues could have been better treated as a child, but his parents neglected to spend the money to keep him in appropriate glasses/care. It caused him social and academic problems and ultimately he is having surgery as an adult that should have happened 30 years ago.
If you go without vision I do recommend trying Wal-mart optical (or similar store). Of course your luck may vary at the store nearest you, but we got my son’s back up glasses there for cheap and he liked them as well as his more expensive pair from the eye doctor’s office.
I guess it depends on your family, providers, and area. We currently have an individual health insurance plan and no dental or vision. When we were covered under a group policy, dental cost so little per month it was always worth it. Many times, however, we found that for vision coverage we paid more out of pocket than we were receiving in benefits.
I would price different plans and also call your dentist and vision care provider to inquire about costs. Our dentist offers a discount to those not covered by insurance which helps us out.
Honestly, I think vision and dental are a must. I had a vision exam and my doctor was able to catch the beginning stages of Glaucoma, something almost completely unheard of at my age (24 at the time). I have to be monitored once a year because when it progresses, I will need treatment. Dental health is directly related to heart health and holistic health, especially for your children. You only have one set of teeth, and it is essential they receive the best care to last as long as possible. I hadn’t been to the dentist for a while because I was without insurance, and although I brushed between 3-5 times a day and flossed regularly, I had several cavities. Now, the cost is phenomenal, but would have been minimal if I had just gone to the dentist routinely. However, at 200+ a cleaning, it was just impractical for me without insurance. I definitely won’t be going without either ever again!
I don’t think anyone is suggesting NOT going to the dentist or eye doctor, just wondering if they need coverage. 🙂
Well, what I was saying is that the cost of not having insurance was way too high for me to go to the dentist and eye doctor. I didn’t go, and now I’m really paying for it.
Tip: There are a couple different Careington plans that dentists can carry, one has a significant more discount than the others – so you’ll want to look into that. The C500 plan has better discounts than POS. There are downloadable fee schedules so you can see the discounts that you will be getting.
You can find this information when you click on the “Search for a Provider” button.
$200 for a cleaning? Our dentist charges $80. Shop around!
It probably depends on where you live. My dentist charges $120. I’ve called around and that is the going rate around here.
Yes, 200. It’s a dentist I trust and he is not that much higher than the others in my area. That’s why dental insurance is a must for me. Plus, if you shop around for insurance you could get some cheap rates and preventative care is usally free. At $300 or so a year, dental insurance more than pays for itself.
Okay, I love my dentist – or maybe my area? – even more now! We paid $60/person for checkups/cleanings. That’s with the non-insured discount he offers.
I was shocked when we back to my hometown to learn the difference in price among Dentists. Our dentist charges around $80 but other dentist just 15 minutes away charge $250 for the first visit!!! We do have dental insurance but it only covers $100 towards cleanings. If all of the dentists in your area seem pricey check just outside your area. Instead of seeing the dentist in our town we travel 25 minutes to a small town to go to the dentist and save $300!!!
In the past I have also had my teeth cleaned at a dental hygenist school. Handsdown they do the best job ever! it does take a while but your teeth will never feel as clean!!! I have also had filings done at a dental school in the past but just really wasn’t comfortable doing that again. It was half the price of a regular dentist but I just don’t want someone learning on me with a drill in their hand! 🙂
Your dental health can affect the health of your entire body. If there is any chance your family will need more than routine cleanings, insurance will probably serve you well. You don’t want to put off dental work because of finances, only to develop other health issues.
A yearly eye exam is important for school age kids. Vision problems can lead to learning problems and this can affect their education for years to come, possibly affecting their employment opportunities as adults. This is why putting off eye exams to save money is not a good plan in the long run.
If not having insurance will make you put off dental and eye exams for the sake of saving money, I would get the insurance so you will have these services available worry-free.
If you are planning to get regular dental and vision check-ups no matter what, then paying cash might be a good option depending on your family’s needs.
Keep in mind that if you discover serious dental or eye issues when you are not insured, and then you try to apply for insurance later to help with costs, the insurance may not cover such “pre-existing conditions.”
but even with dental insurance. you still not be able to afford the treatment, our insurance covers only up to 1200 dollars. last year i still had to pay over 5000 dollars because a tooth broke off.
My husband and I never purchased dental or optical insurance, we always paid out of pocket for both. This was true when we were single and after marrying and having children.
We still have never tried optical insurance, but we did opt to buy dental insurance through his employer last year. We ended up paying MORE in co-pays for cleanings and dental work with insurance than we paid in cash without insurance. We also had to pay almost $50/month for insurance premiums.
It made no sense and we decided to end that experiment. We are back to on our own for dental work. That is our experience.
We have dental insurance after not having it for years- my husband kept track of our bills., talked with the dentist about cash payment and came to the conclusion that dental insurance was much cheaper for our family of 7! It seems that the dentis writes off more if there is insurance in place. Anyways- saved us some money to have it.
We do not have vision- cheaper for us to buy contacts and the like off the internet. Our eye doctor works with us to keep charges low.
I agree that you have to do what is best for your family. My son and I have had all kinds of teeth problems. Including oral surgery and two root canals, the root canal cost me $1800 with insurance but I had to see a specialist. I think as long as you take into account the cost of a serious procedure when you are looking at the cost of insurance you will do fine.
Even with insurance, my experience is that root canals are expensive. In the last year I’ve spent $2000 out of pocket to pay for 3 root canals. By paying up front we get a discount and I don’t think we’d do better with any dental insurance we could get.
Depends on your family situation…I just picked up my first pair of bifocals yesterday and paid $132 with insurance…without it would have been over $800—ouch! With our family of 5, you never know what is around the corner. Daughter just had wisdom teeth pulled by an oral surgeon—haven’t gotten the bill on that one yet, but I’m sure it will be a whopper, even with insurance. My take is you can’t do without insurance—look around for the best coverage you can afford.
My husband had his wisdom teeth pulled out a couple months ago at a “safety net clinic”/community health center. We do have dental insurance but they were trying to push us to use an oral surgeon which would have been A LOT of money and there’s no need for an oral surgeon if the teeth are being pulled out/ vs cut out and you can handle being awake, which my hubs decided he could. Anyhow, we paid next to nothing because the clinic uses a sliding fee scale based on income and family size. The dentists and hygienists are all as equally trained as those in a private practice and although you don’t get the cushy leather sofas in the waiting room, you do get treated well and my husband got all his wisdom teeth removed for very little out of pocket.
Side note: They did also take our insurance on top of the sliding fee scale, so even if you have insurance you can use such a center. Also, they do cleanings, cavities, etc. too, so definitely something to look into if you feel comfortable doing so.
I have a great resource to share! We use Careington which isn’t an insurance plan, but it’s a cash discount plan for both vision and dental. It is very inexpensive. For your entire family it’s only $172.26/year for the dental plan. There are over 67,000 dentists that accept Careington (which is basically just a reduced-price list) as you pay cash for it. Savings is 20%-60% off. It has worked great for us so far – with the savings from one appointment, I can pay for the annual membership for the whole family. It’s also been great because the receptionists at the dentist office like it too because it’s a lot less work for them with not having to file insurance claims! Here’s the website:
https://www1.careington.com/members/health_care_discount/dental_visionp.shtml
Christina, thanks so much for posting this! It looks to be a huge blessing for us! 🙂
Thank you for sharing that. I did find one provider in our area that might accept that so I’m going to check into that…
You have to do what is best for you and your family. Personally, for us, we don’t have dental because our teeth are for the most part, healthy. There is a dental hygiene program at our local college that does cleanings for free in the fall and spring. We are going to give it a shot this year.
We have vision insurance because my son is vision impaired and requires bifocal lenses which get costly. So for us, it’s a necessity.
Good luck!
I work where group health, vision and dental are avaialbe for a monthly cost. What our dentisit charges for cash pay is less than what I would have to pay a year in premuim- two cleanings and x rays each year for me entire family. (Less than half of the yearly cost to carry dental!) I would check with your dentist to see what cash charges are before purchasing dental. I also did this with our eye care provider and vision insurance is worth the cost and saves us over cash pay.
This was the case for us, as well, where paying out of pocket for cleanings/xrays would have been cheaper than paying the insurance.
I’ve been in this same boat before. My husband and I had health insurance but not dental or vision – and he wears eye glasses. A few things we took advantage of. A new dentist moved into our area and sent out direct mail flyers to the neighborhood offering a $99 cleaning special for new patients – x-rays included. This was better than any deal we could arrange with other dentists. So we each got a cleaning and x-rays (it had been almost 4 years since we last had coverage!) Also, look into options with a local credit union if you have one. Our credit union sends on electronic newsletters monthly with product information, sweepstakes, and investing advice. In one of their e-newsletters they advertised vision insurance for credit union members. It is minimal coverage – free eye exam per year + $100 towards glasses – but it was free to sign up for and better than nothing. Good luck!
I’d say your credit union vision insurance is quite good. My company benefit which I pay for is free exam every two years + $80 for glasses. Go figure!