We receive calls everyday from clients looking to purchase dental insurance on an individual basis. They usually do not have access to group dental insurance and want some way to control the costs of their dental care. Finding an individual dental plan of value is tricky but possible.
We work with a number of dental plans such as Anthem BCBS Individual dental, Golden rule Dental, Delta Dental and a number of others. Many people focus on the max benefit of the plan which is usually $1,000 to $1,250 a year. The out of pocket max is important but the key element is to make sure you dentist will accept the plan and also to know what type of coverage you can get on major services. Overall monthly premium is a factor as well because you need to make sure your preventative coverage is worth what you are paying in premium. If you cant break even on the cost with the preventative care alone, it may be wise to look at other plans.
You need to look at plan that cost $26.00 or less per month per person. Over that amount makes it difficult to get your money’s worth out of the plan.
Anthem BCBS offers a plan for $15.00 a month but it coverage preventative benefits only which hurts the value. Golden Rule (United), Ameritus and Delta (AARP Dental) have plans with nice benefit offerings but they are all priced in the $30 to $50 a month range.
We recommend the Humana Individual dental plan at $22.99 a month and the Carington discount dental plan and vision plan at $14.95 a month. Both offer a reasonable premium and worth while benefits.
