For those of you whose employer provides Dental Insurance benefits. It is that time of the year again. Annual, Dental Insurance Open Enrollment.
What is Dental Insurance Open Enrollment ?
Most of the employers allow employees to make changes to their dental insurance plan once a year. This is done mostly during the month of October / November. The time window for making insurance changes is referred to as “Open Enrollment” period. There are some exceptions to this. For example if there is a life changing event like marriage, new born child, etc. You might be able to add members to your insurance when such events are triggered. You might want to check with your employer for more details.
Why should I care about the Dental Insurance Open Enrollment ?
A lot of times employers offer multiple dental insurance plans. Some of these plans might only cover Preventive services. Dental Insurance Open Enrollment period is a perfect time to review what is covered by your dental insurance plan. And switch into a plan, that would provide maximum coverage to you and your family.
How do I know which dental insurance plan to pick ?
Most dental insurance plans consists of following components
- Covered Services (Diagnostics, Preventive, Restorative, Endo, Perio, Implants, Ortho, etc)
- Percentage paid by Insurance (Higher the percentage paid by insurance, lower will be your out-of-pocket)
- Frequency Limitations (Number of times the service is covered, during certain time period)
- Annual Deductible
- Annual Maximum amount
Lets take a common scenario as an example. If your plan covers “Preventive services at 100%, no deductible, twice a year”. This means you might be eligible for dental exam and cleaning 2 times a year or every six months, with no out of pocket cost.
Other things to consider, when choosing a plan during dental insurance open enrollment or otherwise:
- If you or or a family member, have a missing tooth, you might want to check if dental implants are covered. Also check if there is a “missing tooth clause”.
- If anyone one in the family needs braces then check for Ortho coverage. There is usually a lifetime max. for ortho coverage.
- If you have not seen a dentist in last six months, then you might want to make sure the plan covers more than diagnostic and preventive services.
- Look at the plan to see if there is a waiting periods for any covered services.
Remember to Ask questions from your HR representatives during the health and wellness fair or other means which your employer might provide.
We access most PPO dental insurance plans.
Our highly trained staff would be happy to answer any questions related to your dental insurance. Please call us at 510.284.2511 or request an Online Appointment.
Dr. Jaspreet Harika is a graduate of UCSF School of Dentistry, San Francisco. She is an experienced fremont dentist serving Fremont, Newark, Union City, Hayward, Milpitas and surrounding areas. serving zip code 94536, 94538, 94539, 94541, 94542, 94555, 94560, 94587, 95035, and beyond.
