The holidays are here, and the end of the year is just around the corner! But before we get too excited to end the year with a bang, have you thought about your insurance benefits? Did you know your dental insurance benefits expire at the end of the year? Yes, you heard right, expire! Take advantage of your insurance and use your benefits to care for your oral health before they are taken from you. According to the National Association of Dental Plans, there is 2.8% of PPO dental plan participants who reached or exceeded their plans annual maximum. We want you to be part of that percentage who take advantage of their benefits!
Why should you be active in using your dental benefits before losing them?
Yearly maximums: Insurances give an annual maximum of what can be spent on dental care on an annual basis. If you have dental benefits and aren’t using them, then you run the risk of forfeiting those benefits. Every year insurance resets, and if you didn’t reach the maximum, it doesn’t roll over to the next year.
Increase in Deductibles: Deductibles are the amount of money you pay out of pocket before your benefits take effect. If you prefer to see a dentist outside of your network, then the deductible will be higher. When your plan rolls over, you’re going to have to pay your deductible again to use your dental benefits.
Premiums: This is what you pay for when you buy a plan, it is the upfront dollars. Why wouldn’t you use your benefits that you have paid for?! Unused benefits get taken away by the insurance and puts your money in their pockets.
Fee Increases: We all know prices increase over time which is reason enough to use our dental benefits. Fees will be raised to accommodate for cost of living and material costs, which in turn means an increase in co-pay. It is better to pay a high co-pay than the actual cost of the treatment.
Dental Problems: Even though this has nothing to do with insurance, I still think it is worth mentioning. Why? Well over time our health declines and it’s reason enough to start caring for it now! Dental problems don’t get better over time, what starts off as a simple toothache from a cavity can become a root canal or tooth extraction. Care for your teeth now, don’t wait until you have extensive treatment down the line.
Take advantage of your dental insurance and care for your oral health. Don’t let the money go to waste and don’t let your benefits be taken from you if you haven’t used them or if you haven’t reached the yearly maximum. Get all the information you need from your insurance to know when is the end of the year deadline for you to use your benefits. If you need to see a dentist, schedule an appointment with us, we are always happy to attend to your dental needs!