Getting the Most Out of Your Dental Dollar
Fall is the Best Time to Budget for Dental Care
With Insurance?
Summer is over. The end of the year is fast approaching. Now is the time to maximize your dental benefits. Lots of people leave benefit money “lying on the table” because they don’t call the dentist in time to complete needed work.
If you have dental insurance start planning now.
- Make your appointment now to ensure that all covered treatment is diagnosed and completed before the end of 2009. Some procedures require multiple appointments or staged treatment, so waiting until December to schedule the first appointment can keep it from happening this year.
- If you have new insurance choices being offered by your employer, do your research before you sign. Call our office; tell us what plans are offered; and we’ll tell you how they will affect your care.
Without Insurance?
If you don’t have dental insurance, here are three things to do to maximize your dental care dollars:
- Schedule preventive dental maintenance appointments with the hygienist. If it’s been more than a year, do yourself a favor, and call now before tooth decay and gum disease issues get out of hand. This keeps dental procedures smaller, more comfortable, and less expensive.
- If you have a Section 125 Flexible Spending account (sometimes called a cafeteria plan) at work, your employer can set aside money to use tax-free for medical and dental care as well as childcare. Ask your employer if such a plan is offered.
- You don’t have to pay taxes on these dollars and neither does your employer, so it gives you more spendable money.
- The downside is that you have to spend that money before the end of the appropriate calendar year, or you lose it.
To plan for 2010 Cafeteria Plan Benefits:
- See the dentist now and get an estimate on needed work.
- Our dental staff can estimate how much any insurance will pay, and then you’ll know how much to budget in your cafeteria plan. Maybe you’ll only need periodic cleanings, but cleanings for the whole family can add up fast.
- This program works with or without insurance.
- For more information on Section 125 plans see Entrepreneur.com: http://www.entrepreneur.com/humanresources/compensationandbenefits/article79978.html
- If you own a business or have responsibility for employee benefits, you might want to set up a Direct Reimbursement Program. Direct Reimbursement allows the employer to specify an annual amount per employee for benefits. The employer pays the doctor directly for services rendered or reimburses the employee.
- With insurance, the employer pays a specific amount whether or not services are performed. The employee pays for anything not covered by insurance.
- With Direct Reimbursement, your qualified expenses are paid up to the annual limit. If you have no expenses, the employer pays nothing.
- Any size business can use this program for providing tax-free benefits.
- Contact your tax advisor for more information on how to set up Direct Reimbursement for your company.
- The American Dental Association has a website that offers more information on this benefit: http://www.ada.org/prof/prac/insure/dr/index.asp .
If it sounds like these programs take some time and effort to set up, you’re right. But they can pay for themselves and hold down costs because everyone knows what’s being paid for.
Learn more about dental care financing - Contact your Salem dentists at Oak Park Family Dental.
