The Easy Guide to Dental Insurance Plans In Washington State
As dental costs rise, many people are wondering if they should
buy dental insurance. Insurance can help offset costs of preventative
treatment and make it easier to deal with unexpected dental expenses
and repair work. If you're thinking about getting dental insurance,
make sure to check out several different plans and ask many questions.
Some of the questions you should ask when you're looking for a
Washington state dental plan are as follows.
Ask about the yearly maximum the dental insurance will cover.
The yearly maximum is the most money that you can be covered for
within one year. It automatically renews each year, and all unused
benefits are lost. Most dental insurance companies have a yearly
maximum of one year.
Find out whether your plan covers both in and out of network dentists.
Many independent dental insurance plans will only pay for your
dental services if you go to a dentist in their particular network.
In some groups, your reimbursements for non approved dentists will
be less. In others, you will not be reimbursed or covered at all.
Find out whether you have the freedom to choose your own dentist.
If you do not, make sure you get a list of the participating in
network dentists before you sign your plan. That way you will know
if they have a dental care provider you would want to see.
Ask to see their UCR guide. UCR stands for Usual, Customary, and
Reasonable. This tells you what price your insurer is willing to
pay for each dental procedure. These charges are not based on what
your dentist charges, so it's important to know up front what will
be paid. Whatever is left over, you may have to pay. If your policy
requires that you see a provider in the network, however, you will
probably not be asked to cover the difference. A contracted dentist
usually has an agreement to write that amount off with the insurance
company.
You'll find that most dental insurance companies break their dental
procedures into three categories. These are Preventative, Basic/Restorative,
and Major. When you compare your prospective dental plans, make
sure that they cover all the above categories. If not, you might
find that your major dental work won't be covered by your plan.
This is something you want to discover before you sign the plan,
not after!
If the policy has a waiting period, be sure that you find out
how long it is, and what it covers. You may not be able to get
certain types of treatment until the waiting period is over. Typically,
waiting periods are about a year. Also find out about missing tooth
clauses. These prevent the insurance company from paying for replacement
of a tooth that was missing before you signed your policy. If you
are hoping to get a partial or bridge for a missing tooth, you
will want to try to find a policy without this clause.