Aetna Dental Access
March 7, 2007 on 12:06 pm | In Nationwide Dental Benefits, Available Dental Plans | No Comments| Annual Program Fee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Individual: $99.95 per year 1 Family2: $149.95 per year 1 Plus, get 3 additional months added to your program for FREE!
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*Anticipated national average dental charges for the 2006 calendar year based on the comparison of provider negotiated fees to national average charges. Actual costs and savings vary by provider and geographical area. **According to the Aetna Enterprise Provider Database as of March 1, 2006. |
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| How this Program Can Save You Money | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Aetna Dental Access® is a discount or reduced-fee dental program. This program is designed for health conscious consumers looking to maintain their oral health and minimize their dental care expenses.
General dentists who participate in Aetna Dental Access® have agreed to accept the Aetna Dental Access® contracted rate as payment in full for services performed. A sample table of Aetna Dental Access® discounted fees can be found below. |
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| Sample Discounted Fees and Savings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The sample table above is a small selection of common procedures discounted by Aetna Dental Access®. The procedures discounted under Aetna Dental Access® offer similar savings to the sample above.This fee schedule is only to be used as a guide to determine approximate prices for dental services in the applicable area. The discounted fee schedule amount reflects the average fee information currently available on our systems. Individual dentist fee schedules may differ. Aetna makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any particular fee amount.
1 Source: DentalPlans.com (DP.C) 2005 Survey of Sample Average National Dental Fees. Fees may vary slightly by region.
2 Discounted fees are listed for visits to a participating general dentist. Members will be charged the provider’s Aetna Dental Access® contracted fees. Charges may vary from the sample fee schedule above. Consult with your provider prior to beginning any treatment. Lab fees may be additional. This plan is based geographically by ZIP code in terms of provider participation and location. Fee schedules and savings may vary by ZIP code and by Provider within a ZIP code. |
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| Specialist Savings and Discounts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Aetna Dental Access® members who visit a participating specialist receive discounts according to the fee schedule. Specialists include:
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| What You Get When You Enroll | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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When you join Aetna Dental Access® with DentalPlans.com, your participation package is provided instantly online in the DentalPlans.com Member’s Area, which includes:
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Recent dental infection related death of 12-year-old boy
March 7, 2007 on 11:15 am | In Nationwide Dental Benefits, News | No CommentsHow absurd! I was shocked and saddened (to say the least) to read about Deamonte Driver of Maryland. You can read the story here.
A young boy, 12 years old - Deamonte Driver of Maryland died because he was unable to get the dental care he needed. He developed an abscess that spread which lead to his death.
A routine, eighty dollar tooth extraction might have saved him. The bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George’s County boy died.
As Tommi Avicolli Mecca‚ Mar. 05‚ 2007 in his Beyond Chron article put it - “Congressmembers and Maryland state legislators are going the feel-good route. In the name of Deamonte Driver, they’re pouring more money into a broken system. Maryland legislators are proposing to give a mere $2 million to clinics around the state that provide dental care for those who can’t afford it. Meanwhile, Congress wants to distribute $40 million to health centers and departments throughout the country for dental care to poor children.”
What a devastating SHAME!
This is AMERICA, The United States of America - and we have children dying because their parents can not afford dental insurance?
Having to rely on Medicaid, Medi-Cal or whatever social service is available in their area just isn’t working. Dentists that accept State programs are few and far between, some folks have to drive several hours to get to a dentist that will take their State card. As was the case with Deamonte Driver’s family. Obviously, signing up for a dental discount plan isn’t even the answer for some of America’s poorest residents.
Preventative Dental Care
Preventative Dental Care isn’t as expensive as trying to fix damage that has already been done. Actually, this topic opens up an entire new can of worms which I will address in a seperate post!
Bargain Hunting Gone Wild!
September 24, 2006 on 8:05 am | In Nationwide Dental Benefits, How To Save Money | No CommentsBargain Hunting Gone Wild!
There are some of us who shop around for everything. We clip coupons, ask for discounts, try to find that “buy one get one free” deal, and the list goes on. You know the type. We are everywhere. We try to find the best product at the lowest price, what’s wrong with that? Nothing really. We may be irritating to some. But to a few, admired!
Why is it then, that when it comes to dental plans the search for discounts stop there?
You know what I’m talking about right? We have searched high and low for a great dental discount plan, figured out just how much money we’re going to save by using this plan over anything else and then, right at that crucial point - we just throw that dart at the dartboard, pick a dentist that is conviently located and whammo - we’re done! That’s it. No rhyme or reason other than we have to pick a dentist so we pick one close to home or work.
I realize that for a few, the dentist you pick is because you’ve been seeing that dentist since time began, he or she knows your teeth and the teeth of your entire family. Ok. I can grasp that concept. But what about the rest of us? Who avoid dentists at all costs? Those are the folks I’m concerned about. And I am one of them.
My mom is one of them too.
My mom has dental INSURANCE (through her job) - mind you this is not a dental discount plan. (To learn more about the difference - please read this post). She choose her dentist because he is close to the house. Good enough reason right? Read on.
Well, my mom needed some major work done. A couple of root canals, an extraction or two, some cavities filled and she hadn’t yet deceided whether she wanted permanent implants or a bridge. She also wanted the top front teeth (about six of them) redone so that they were straight and pretty looking. So, she did the next logical thing. She made an appointment with her newly selected dentist and off she goes to get this work done or started anyway.
This particular dentist is thourogh and even went to the trouble of giving her a “dental plan proposal” for all of this work. She proudly walked out of his office, proposal in hand, anxious to get home and review this proposal. The proposal was detailed and gave amounts for every bit of work she needed done. It even included what her insurance plan would pay for, so the $37,000 figure that she ended up with was her out of pocket expense, not the total cost of work to be done.
Did you read that right? Did I write it correctly? THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! Yep, you sure did, you read that exactly right and I wrote it correctly too! You also read this right - that was her out-of-pocket expense because payments from her insurance plan had already been figured in. (Which amounted to about five thousand dollars).
My gut reaction shocked me! Mostly because it had NEVER occured to me before this. I said, “Mom, you are NOT going to pay $37,000 to this dentist without shopping around first, right?” She sorta looked at me with that deer in the headlights look. Like, huh? Shop around for a dentist with better prices? People just don’t do that. Especially not me!
I guess the general assumption is that dentists all charge the same fees. How insane is that? I’m guilty of it, don’t get me wrong - but that is definately crazy.
Think about it for a minute. I got in a car accident once and my own insurance company had me go to three different body shops for quotes to get my car fixed. Seems reasonable. So, I got three different quotes - key word there is different. They were all different. Body shops don’t all charge the same fees. They may live by the old “usual and customary” rate sheet - but some will definately push those limits, hence I had one really high quote, one “ok” quote and one that was lower than the other two.
Back to my crazy thinking. Why would I not automatically assume that dentists charge different fees? I think it has something to do with the fact that they are doctors really and who ever heard of shopping around for a doctor? I don’t care how much my doctor charges I want the best health care I can get. But that is a different blog topic all together. So I will try to stick to my point. If I apply that same reasoning to shopping for a dentist, then I guess I’m stuck in the water. However, I don’t apply that same reasoning with respect to dentists. So, I’m out of the water!
Back to my mom and her situation for a moment.
After that lost glaze that had come over her when I asked her if she was going to look around for better prices, we had a long discussion about it. It seemed crazy to her at first to actually shop around for a dentist. After we spent some time talking about the pros and cons of not shopping around, she finally agreed with me that it was definately in her best interest to at least find out if she could get the same work done for less money.
She shopped around and guess what? You know what’s coming right? She found out that she could get the exact same work done for less than HALF of what her dentist wanted to charge her.
The next logical question, in my mind anyway - is ok, we’ve got the price down to something I can almost swallow. Now, we need to figure out who can do the work the way I want it done. Or, in this case, the way my mom wants it done. Most dentists have before and after photos in their office of work that they have performed. It is not that difficult to see if the work they do is in line with the quality of work I or anybody else wants done.
Now it is just a matter of selecting the dentist with the right price and quality of work I like. Are there exceptions to this “bargain hunting gone wild” thinking? Yes, of course. First thought that comes to mind is if I’m in severe pain and I need ANY dentist who can see me at two o’clock in the morning! Other than an emergency scenario though, I’m pretty stuck on my die hard “shop for a dentist” mind-set.
You can search for a discount dental plan AND search dentists right here.
Lack of Dental Care Equates to Child Abuse?
September 15, 2006 on 12:14 pm | In Nationwide Dental Benefits, News | No CommentsLack of Dental Care Equates to Child Abuse?
“Mom Jailed Because Of Son’s Rotten Teeth, Woman Thought Teeth Would Just Fall Out” was the headline on Local6.com’s website on September 14, 2006.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A Pennsylvania mother is behind bars because, police said, her son’s lack of dental care was her fault. Read the entire story here.
WOW! It’s a good thing there isn’t any such thing as “Self Abuse” or my finely tuned skills of dentist aversion techniques would probably land me in jail!
My curiousity was piqued by this news story. - “According to court documents, his mother said she knew her son was hurting, but did not take him to a dentist because she figured his baby teeth would fall out and the problem would fix itself.”
I’m wondering to myself as I’m reading it, WHY wouldn’t she take her son to a dentist? At the very least, to find out if her theory of his teeth “just fixing themselves” was viable?
Could it have been purely financial? Did this woman not have dental insurance? Did she not know of the existence of discount dental plans?
If that is the case, how do we “get the word out” about discount dental plans? Is blogging about dental plans that are an affordable alternative to dental insurance enough? Is having a website about discount dental plans enough? Short of walking down the street, shouting at the top of my lungs, “Hey! Here is a list of discount dental plans that are available” - what is enough?
I don’t really have an answer. Not yet anyway! I will keep you posted.
Dental Insurance vs. Dental Discount Plans
September 7, 2006 on 10:39 pm | In Nationwide Dental Benefits, Dental Plans vs. Dental Insurance | No Comments
I’m a 36 year old, insulin dependent diabetic (for past 2 years - with no history of diabetes in my family!) with a gnarly set of teeth! Ok, maybe not gnarly but darn close. I don’t really enjoy going to see my dentist, in fact, my lack of desire to see my dentist has put me in the predicament I am in… having “gnarly” teeth. Ok, I can already hear the questions rattling around in your brain:
- What do you mean by “gnarly”?
- I’m looking at your photo and you don’t look like you have bad teeth!
Just like in life, we’ve (some of us) learned that beauty isn’t always found on the outside, it’s on the inside. With respect to my teeth; the reverse is true… What may look pretty on the outside - is ugly on the inside!
Cavities have taken over my mouth. After many years of well rehearsed and practiced Dentist Aversion Techniques (I’ve mastered them and will post a separate blog just for that someday) the cavities have taken on a life of their own. Slowly deteriorating the structure of my teeth to the point of no return. I once took a bite of garlic bread (it goes so well with spaghetti & meatballs!) and before I knew it, I had half of a tooth rolling around in my mouth with the garlic bread. Gross huh?
Well, enough years have past that both time and circumstance are dictating that I abandon my perfected craft of dentist aversion techniques.
So, my hunt for a dentist, a dental plan and good teeth begin!
I am self employed, so don’t have health insurance, vision insurance, 401(k), vacation pay, sick pay, days off or DENTAL INSURANCE!
And talk about confusing! Have you ever had to go on the hunt for dental insurance? I have! It’s no “barrel of laughs” (I also get cliches wrong MOST of the time, so if you think I’ve used a cliche incorrectly, you are most likely correct. Forgive me, it’s one of my idio-something-or-nothers) to go searching for this illusive THING that I think exists but don’t really have a grasp on yet.
So here is what I found out:
- Dental Insurance works very much like health insurance - they come in a variety of “flavors” if you will. PPO, DHMO, POS, Indemnity and Scheduled.
- PPO stands for Preferred Provider
Organization. Basically, the network of dentists that the members are referred to offer discounted fees to the plan members.You can typically use a dentist outside of the PPO’s network, but you will only be reimbursed
the discounted fee for the services rendered and have to pay any additional amount yourself.
- DHMO stands for Dental Health Maintenance
Organization. The way a DHMO works is it provides you dental services through its network of dentists in exchange for some form of prepayment. If you use a dentist outside of the network, you will most likely be responsible for the entire bill.
- POS stands for Point of Service. A POS plan allows you to use either a DHMO dentist or a dentist not in the network. You get to choose in-network care of out-of-network care when you make your dental appointment and typically, you will incur higher out-of-pocket costs for out-of-network care.
- Indemnity. An indemnity plan is also known as a traditional plan. With an indemnity plan you can visit any dentist you like. They typically pay a percentage of “usual, customary and reasonable” charges for covered services.
- Scheduled. A scheduled plan or scheduled reimbursement plan reimburses you for a set amount based on a fee schedule. The balance due, if any is your responsibility. They include a calendar year maximum, a deductible and waiting periods for certain procedures.
- PPO stands for Preferred Provider
- Most dental coverage is designed to ensure that the patient receives
regular preventive care.
- High quality dental care rarely requires the complex, multiple resources often required by medical care. A thorough examination by the dentist and a set of x-rays are all it usually takes to diagnose a problem. By and large, dental care is provided by a general practitioner, although some cases may require the services of a dental specialist. Because most dental disease is preventable, dental benefits plans are structured to encourage patients to get the regular, routine care so vital to preventing and diagnosing the onset of serious disease. In fact, most dental benefits plans require patients to assume a greater portion of the costs for treatment of dental disease than for preventive procedures. By placing an emphasis on prevention, and by covering regular teeth cleaning and check-ups, Americans saved nearly $100 billion in dental care costs during the 1980s.
- High quality dental care rarely requires the complex, multiple resources often required by medical care. A thorough examination by the dentist and a set of x-rays are all it usually takes to diagnose a problem. By and large, dental care is provided by a general practitioner, although some cases may require the services of a dental specialist. Because most dental disease is preventable, dental benefits plans are structured to encourage patients to get the regular, routine care so vital to preventing and diagnosing the onset of serious disease. In fact, most dental benefits plans require patients to assume a greater portion of the costs for treatment of dental disease than for preventive procedures. By placing an emphasis on prevention, and by covering regular teeth cleaning and check-ups, Americans saved nearly $100 billion in dental care costs during the 1980s.
- Dental Insurance has waiting periods. A waiting period is a set amount of time that an insurance company will make you wait after your coverage begins before they will pay for certain procedures. Some waiting periods are as long as twelve (12) months!
- There is such a thing as a “Missing Tooth Clause and Replacement Period”. Apparently more than 90 percent of dental insurance companies have a missing tooth clause or a replacement clause. Some have at least one of these clauses, but most have both.
- What is a missing tooth clause? A missing tooth clause protects the insurance company from paying for the replacement of a tooth that was missing before the policy was in effect. For example, if you lost a tooth or had one extracted before your coverage started and later you decided that you would like to have a partial denture or bridge, the insurance company would not have to pay for that service if they have a missing tooth clause in the plan.
- What is a replacement clause? A replacement clause is similar to a missing tooth clause except that the insurance company will not pay to replace dentures, bridges or partials, etc… until a specified amount of time has passed.
- What is a missing tooth clause? A missing tooth clause protects the insurance company from paying for the replacement of a tooth that was missing before the policy was in effect. For example, if you lost a tooth or had one extracted before your coverage started and later you decided that you would like to have a partial denture or bridge, the insurance company would not have to pay for that service if they have a missing tooth clause in the plan.
- There are three (3) categories of dental procedures.
- Preventative
- Basic or Restorative
- Major
- There are many dental insurance companies that do not cover major charges. Some insurance companies may consider crowns, root canals, bridges, dentures and partials to be “major” dental procedures and if that plan/company does not cover major dental procedures and you need a root canal, you will be responsible for the entire bill, which can be as high as $3500 - $5000.
- Dental Insurance is expensive! Well, it is if you’re trying to insure your family anyway. The average quote I received was in the neighborhood of $1800 - $2200 per year to insure my family.
So, naturally, I found some alternatives! I discovered something called Dental Discount Plans. They are not insurance, at all! So they do not have any paperwork hassles, no health restrictions, no annual limits, join instantly, quick activation and You Can Start Saving Immediately. Now that’s the kind of plan I was looking for!
Here is a comparison chart I made up for myself during my research:
Click here to view full size chart in a new window.
Needless to say, I opted for a dental discount plan as opposed to buying dental insurance. As it turns out, I have saved THOUSANDS of dollars because I choose a dental discount plan over a traditional dental insurance plan. Click here to research available discount dental plans.
Use this link to search for Instant Dental Care with Huge Savings
UNI-CARE 200 Discount Dental Plan
September 6, 2006 on 11:24 am | In Nationwide Dental Benefits, Available Dental Plans | No CommentsPlan Membership Fee
Individual: $109.95 per year 1 |
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Family2: $159.95 per year 1 |
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| 1 No additional sign-up fee. Join today 2 Those covered under this plan include spouse, dependent children and any permanent resident in the member’s household. |
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Plus, get 3 additional months added to your plan for FREE!
Plan Benefits and Highlights No health restrictions
No predetermination of benefits required
No paperwork hassles
Orthodontia (orthodontics) included
Few cosmetic exclusions
No age limit for dependents
No referral required to see a Specialist
Group rates availableHow this Plan Can Save You Money The UNI-CARE 200 Discount Dental Plan is a discount or “reduced-fee” dental plan. This plan is designed for health conscious consumers looking to maintain their oral health and minimize their dental care expenses.
General dentists who participate in the UNI-CARE 200 Discount Dental Plan have agreed to accept a discounted fee as payment in full for each service performed. These discounted fees are 10 to 50% less than what a dentist would normally charge. A sample table of UNI-CARE 200 Discount Dental Plan discounted fees can be found below.
Specialist Savings and Discounts
UNI-CARE 200 Plan members who visit a participating specialist receive a flat 20% discount off specialists’ usual and customary fees. This includes a 20% discount at:
Orthodontists - braces
Periodontists - gums
Oral Surgeons - wisdom tooth or major extractions
Prosthodontists - bridges and dentures
Pediatric Dentists / Pedodontists - child treatment
Endodontist - extensive root canals
What You Get When You Join
When you join the UNI-CARE 200 Discount Dental Plan with DentalPlans.com, your membership package materials are provided instantly online in the DentalPlans.com Member’s Area. This online membership package (OMP) includes:
Your welcome letter and membership cards
A complete fee schedule with discounted fees on nearly every dental procedure
Instructions and tips for maximizing your savings
Support and contact documentation
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