What Is Covered by Senior Dental Insurance Plans
Living on a fixed income from a pension and Social Security is not easy, and supplemental dental insurance is a welcome benefit. Seniors must conserve their health in order to have a happy, full retirement, and dental insurance plays a large role in saving your money and your dental health.
Preventive services are discounted or entirely covered by almost every all care dental plan available. Twice-yearly dental examinations and cleanings are important to keep an eye on your dental health, especially if you take medications which may cause dental problems as a side effect.
X-rays should also be covered in an all care dental plan, and seniors will probably need x-rays more often than the younger crowd because deep problems not visible during the dental examination may be lurking in the tooth roots or in your jaw.
Most senior dental insurance plans also offer steep discounts for such procedures as bridges, dentures, caps and crowns. You will most certainly need these procedures in the future if you have not already experienced one or two of them.
Replacements for cracked or broken appliances should also be listed on the discounted services list. Make sure you are aware of any waiting periods in the policy, so you are not surprised by an unexpected expense.
Seniors and retirees have their own special needs. This age group needs a more comprehensive all care dental plan with a few good “intangible” benefits to go along with the cost-savings for dental procedures.
Look for senior dental insurance that offers you:
• No claim forms to fill out and mail in
• Flexible or limitless maximum benefits
• No waiting periods, or very short waiting periods
• Discounts on all or most dental services
• Comprehensive specialty dental treatments
• Very small or no deductibles
• Coverage for pre-existing conditions
• Your choice in dental professionals
With everything else seniors must worry about remembering, filing claim forms to the dental insurance company should be one to avoid. Affordable plans with a wide range of benefits important to seniors are available.
If filing paperwork is something you consider fun, you can probably find a dental insurance company that will require you to file reimbursement forms. If you have better things to do, find a senior dental insurance company that will allow your dentist to file a claim on your behalf.
It is a good idea to call the insurance company to find out how difficult it will be to have a claim processed. Some of the cheaper companies require you to fill out and fax the forms yourself, which could get very tedious as well as opening the door to making costly mistakes. You don’t want to wait for your reimbursement to arrive in the mail, either.
Balance the monthly premium cost, percentages of reimbursement, and the difficulties you might experience to process a claim before making a final decision on which senior dental insurance policy will best meet your needs.