Monday, 4 April 2011

Dental Insurance for Seniors, Traditional insurance

Dental discount plans may be a better option as compared to dental insurance, for seniors may find it difficult to handle the restricting clauses or cope with the higher premiums that are characteristic of individual dental insurance...The exorbitant cost of dental care has made it mandatory for people to have dental insurance. About 97 percent of the insured population opt for dental health insurance plans that are employment based. This is because employer based dental insurance is a group dental insurance plan that has lower premium requirements as against individual dental insurance. The employer has the option of providing one of the following coverages to employees:
Indemnity Plans
Direct Reimbursement Plans
Managed Care Plans
Problems Associated with Dental Insurance for Seniors

Managed care plans are the cheapest, and as a consequence, most employers have shifted to these from the erstwhile popular traditional insurance plans. Managed care plans force the insured to choose from the given network of doctors and do not provide coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Traditional insurance plans result in the insured receiving only the cheapest treatment according to the Least Expensive Alternative Treatment (LEAT) clause, although one has the option of choosing the doctor. Again, pre-existing conditions are not covered by the plan.

The best dental insurance plan for people who are employed, is definitely the Direct Reimbursement Plan, which in addition to being the only plan that covers pre-existing conditions, also provides the benefit of deductible premiums to employers. However, there is the danger of the amount not being reimbursed by the insurance company.

Since the aforementioned plans are usually employment based, and have certain restricting clauses as far as treatment and payment is concerned, these are not suitable for seniors. Hence, the need for alternatives to dental insurance for seniors has assumed a great deal of importance.

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