Full dental coverage is something a lot of us take for granted when we have a nine to five with benefits. It’s the sort of thing that you tend not to give much thought to while you’ve got it, but you miss when you don’t. When you get out into the private market, finding full dental coverage is a little more challenging.
The easiest way to get (and save on) full dental coverage is by bundling it with a new health insurance policy. The vast majority of people in the individual market are overpaying for their health insurance, so it’s a great idea to get your agent to do a little extra shopping and save on both products.
If you’re looking to bundle your full dental coverage with your Georgia health insurance plan, you’re in luck: the best, and lowest priced, health insurance company in Georgia also offers very affordable full dental coverage. Humana One is an excellent insurance company in Georgia (and very reliable – I’ve personally written Humana One policies for my fiancee and her sister, so you know I must believe in them), and their full dental coverage option is very nice. Let’s take a closer look at it:
Preventative services (oral exams, routine cleanings, x-rays, sealants, and topical fluoride treatment) are paid at 100% before the deductible – in other words, they’re free. You have no out-of-pocket cost for these services – now that’s full coverage dental!
Basic services (emergency exams, pain relief, thumb sucking appliances, space maintainers, composite fillings, oral surgery, routine extractions, non-cast stainless steel crowns, and denture repairs/adjustments) and major services (root canals, periodontics, crowns, inlays, onlays, getting dentures, denture relines, and removable or fixed bridgework) are paid at 50% after the deductible. That deductible is $50 for an individual or $150 for a family. So, for example, if you have a root canal you’ll pay $50 then half of the remaining bill. In the world of full dental coverage, this is an excellent deal!
You’ll also get a 20% discount on all your orthodontist work so long as you visit a participating dentist, and most dentists are in this network. Lastly, this full coverage dental plan will pay for 50% of your teeth whitening services after your deductible and up to a $200 lifetime maximum.
Now, this is a full dental coverage plan, but there is an annual maximum benefit of $1000. This means that Humana will pay according to the guidelines above, but they’ll only pay $1000 of benefits per year. On the face, this doesn’t sound great, but full dental coverage in the private market always has caps like this. It’s about in line with what you’ll find anywhere else.
Now, you should have your agent check up on your health insurance plan once in a while to make sure that you’re still getting the best coverage at the best rates. The market shifts constantly, and there’s no harm and no cost to have your agent make sure that you’re still ahead of the game. If you’ve recently had your agent do this and you’re happy with your health insurance, but still want full dental coverage, then you might want to look into standalone full dental coverage.
If this is the route you want to go, then I recommend going with one of AHCP’s full dental coverage options. Option one is the AHCP Saver Dental, which has a $1000/year maximum, a $25 deductible, covers 80% of preventative work, 40% of basic work, and 20% of major work. As you can see, the loss of coverage when compared to the Humana plan is huge, especially when you consider that the two plans are almost the same price.
Option two is the AHCP Comprehensive Dental, which is more of a full dental coverage plan. Here, we have a $1500/year maximum, a $50 deductible, coverage at 100% for preventative services, 80% for basic services, and 50% for major services. This is a much more comprehensive full dental coverage option, and is only very slightly more expensive than the Humana full dental coverage.
The one thing that really pushes the AHCP Comprehensive Dental plan above and beyond is the fact that, so long as you had prior dental coverage, there’s no waiting period for any services. The Humana full coverage dental plan has a six month waiting period for basic services and a twelve month wait for major services. The AHCP Saver Dental has a flat twelve-month waiting period for all services. But, if you’ve just left a job with full dental coverage and have proof of that coverage, then the AHCP Comprehensive Dental plan will kick in immediately with no waiting periods whatsoever.
That, in a nutshell, is what full dental coverage looks like in the private market. As with any insurance plan, I strongly recommend that you talk to your personal insurance agent to help figure out what plan is best for you. Now that you know what the market looks like for individual full dental coverage, why not get a free full dental coverage quote and see how much you could be saving on your insurance?
