I don't know when I'm ever going to learn to ask the right question!
The Situation:
After working for the same agency for 3 years, Carolyn gets a greater selection of dental plans to select from. Thinking our dental provider would know the most about plans offered, she asked them which plan was "best" Carolyn submitted the work paper's.
The Problem:
Besides some initial problems for getting me signed up, everything went fine. We did notice that our costs had not gone down and had maybe even increased. The final blow was a $1,100 cavity and crown replacement I discovered I needed this week. Our dental plan covers 50% of the costs leaving us with an unexpected $550 dental bill.
The Explanation:
I could be mistaken about the increased costs but I don't think so. The answer lies in the word "better" desribing the plan. For many people a better plan gives them a broader choice of dentists to pick from including, with luck, their favorite dentist. It is very likely that a plan, to appeal to more dentists, has to have higher payment rates to the dentists and consequently higher costs for the patients. Since we already had the dentist of our choice, we should have asked which plan has the lowest costs for us rather than the best payments to the dentist.
Not only is the new plan more costly for us, it is riskier for our current dentist because we may decide now with greater choices to shop around. It's probably in his best interests that we go back to the original plan.
At least your crowns are covered. Ours are not, but our total cost was only $200 more without coverage than you paid with coverage. Our plan only covers $22 for a 6 month exam/cleaning and I think it is $38 for a filling. We can get a supplemental dental policy that covers more, but only covered dentists are allowed and I haven't had any luck with two of them...
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