|
|
About Dental
Insurance
Dental Insurance is a highly complex
area that creates confusion for many
dental patients and dental offices
alike. The complexities of dental
insurance and the lack of sufficient
information provided by some insurance
companies make it almost impossible for
some patients to fully understand their
benefits. What complicates the issue
even more is that we base our
recommendations on what we feel is best
for your oral health. Insurance bases
their recommendations on what is best to
lower the costs of reimbursement and how
to show profits for their shareholders.
Remember, they are in the business of
making money, not spending money. You
get back in benefits what your employer
put in, minus the insurance company
profits. Many insurance companies are in
the midst of multiple lawsuits regarding
how they administer plans, how they fix
prices, etc. Many of these companies
have already lost these suits, but still
do business in a fashion that a great
number of dentists feel is unfair,
restrictive, confusing, and lowers the
bar for dental health.
The dental plan selected by your
employer was most likely based on the
company’s purchasing power, not one
designed with your unique dental needs
and wants in mind. Because the plan must
apply to every employee in the company,
it cannot possibly respond to the
individual differences which undoubtedly
exist in your group. For that reason, we
hope you come to look at your dental
plan as a benefit from your employer to
help defray the cost of some types of
dental services and treatments. It
should never be a factor in making
important decisions about your health.
My staff and I are dedicated to taking
care of you with what we know is best
for you, not your carrier. I do not
diagnose, render treatment, or establish
fees according to any insurance table of
allowances or their interpretation of
health. Treatment and fees are based on
the care, skill, and judgment of my
dental team. I will not violate your
trust by compromising recommendations
and treatment based on the limitations
of your coverage. As long as I am the
one rendering your dental care, my
obligation is to you, not them.
Our office has always been happy to
cooperate with patients who have dental
insurance. We think insurance is a great
incentive to maintain a vital level of
oral health. But it is extremely rare
that a dental plan will cover 100% of
our fees. Insurance carriers have
clauses in their contracts that limit
benefits, change procedure codes to
alternative less costly treatment. These
practices have nothing to do with your
oral health or what is best for you.
They are solely based on your particular
contract and “running the numbers” to
make the contract attractive to your
employer. The reimbursements that
company’s give usually has nothing to do
with the real world of dentistry. The
figures are contrived, manipulated, and
illegally claimed as usual and
customary. With one look at our office,
at our latest state of the art
equipment, and our advanced training—you
will see nothing that resembles “usual
and customary”.
We will always help you get the most
benefits from your insurance carrier we
can. If you have any questions or
concerns, please feel free to call us.
|
|
