DON'T LET YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE
GIVE YOU TUNNEL VISION WHEN IT COMES TO ACCEPTING YOUR DENTAL TREATMENT PLAN!
The opinions expressed are those
of our staff, which are the shared experiences of dealing with a number of
insurance carriers and helping patients to understand their coverage.
Basic
information concerning dental insurance is available online through the ADA
(www.ada.org)
Do you determine the quality of
your dental therapy, by how much your insurance will pay?
Have you had to search
for a new dentist because your old one does not participate in a new dental
plan? If so.............................................. you are a victim of the insurance system.
Dental
insurance companies have a very strong profit motive and
sometimes provide benefits contracts to employers without
keeping in mind the ultimate coverage determinant----the
patient. Insurance companies are here to make money
and will inarguable work with employers in that regard.^
Our consumer hint to you
is that you should never allow your insurance company to dictate dental treatment on the
basis of coverage.
It should be no surprise to you
that INSURANCE COMPANIES EXISTS SOLELY TO
MAKE MONEY, NOT to pay your dental
bills. Maximum benefits per year on most insurance policies have not
increased at the same rate as the cost of living index-in fact
most haven't increased at all while the missing tooth clauses,
waiting periods and other restrictions have increased. *
Realize that insurance benefits are a contract between you, your employer, and the
insurance company. Your dentist has
no input into this process.
Any questions or
disputes involving insurance should remain between you, the subscriber, and your
insurance company. Ultimately the fees involved in dental (or
medical) treatments are the patient's responsibility.
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Please
remember.....Dentists accept insurance as
payment as a courtesy to you, our valued patient.
The limitations of your plan is not a problem to us, it is
the fact that NO ONE KNOWS about the limitations is THE PROBLEM! .
Insurance
companies unwillingness to provide us with their coverage details only increases
patients and dentists suffering from reduced or refused benefits, reduced
compensation and administrative headaches, while
the profits of insurance company’s increase.
In selling its dental plan the
insurance carrier does not highlight the
exclusions or limitations of your plan. This
leaves their payment on your claim a
surprise to the patient and staff!
Please do not blame us for restrictions
your insurance company imposes because of your coverage contract! It
is essential that you understand what is written in your insurance policy manual
and not just rely on what you have been told about the policy. We have
experienced many cases where the patients have been terribly misinformed
verbally by their insurance carrier or human resource representative.
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Basically, dentists accept
"assignment of benefits" from their patients as a courtesy.
Many dental
offices may not accept assignment of benefits for a number of reasons:
We appreciate you as a highly regarded patient and we are
extremely upset when insurance misunderstandings cause us to lose one of our
valued patients because insurance refused to be up front with our patients and
our office.
Insurance must be considered an adjunct that only assists you with your financial responsibility towards the
dental treatment.
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WE HOPE YOUR TEETH SERVE YOU MUCH LONGER THAN YOUR
DENTAL INSURANCE PLAN!
BY NOT LIMITING
YOURSELF TO JUST WHAT YOUR INSURANCE PLAN COVERS YOU RECEIVE ALL THE BENEFITS OF
DENTISTRY TO GIVE YOU A GREAT VIEW!
Full view from top of Scottsbluff
National Monument!
Ten
Commandments for HMO
HMO
Page
HMO
Hardball
*Fight
"Truth" Decay With Options, Ronald
Groba, Beverly Mentzel. Dental Economics
pg 80-83, 179 Feb 2000.
^ The Truth About Dental Insurance, Levin
Group, Compendium; Dec 2001/Vol. 22, No 12;
pages 1052-1054.
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February 06, 2008
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