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A recent study commissioned by Delta Dental finds that 60% of American consumers have dental insurance. The same study shows that 29% pay for their dental care out-of-pocket.
But what about the remaining 11%? Well, it appears that one in nine adults think they can sidestep the issue by never going to the dentist.
Caught in a financial tug-of-war, dentists have a love/hate relationship with dental insurance companies. Insurance providers regularly raise patients’ monthly premiums, but rarely (if ever) raise the actual patient benefit and only increase claims to your through after a prolonged struggle. And of course, a benefit of a thousand dollars a year bought a lot more dental care back in 1960 than it does today.
Some practices have given up on the insurance game completely; a recent Wealthy Dentist survey showed that 11% of dentists no longer accept dental insurance of any kind. However, most practices still depend on insurance companies as a source of new patients.
Take It or Leave It
We could complain about it all day long, but it’s not going to do much good. Dentists have two basic choices when it comes to dental insurance: take it or leave it. Dropping insurances is satisfying for many doctors, but it’s a difficult transition that’s not feasible for all practices — particularly not in today’s economic climate!
If your practice accepts insurance, it’s important to make sure you’re getting as much out of the deal as you can. Remember, two-thirds of the people getting dental care have dental insurance! That’s a huge pool of potential new dental patients.
The Delta survey also shows that 82% of people with dental insurance are covered under an employer’s plan. In addition, fully 88% of those employers pay all or part of their employees’ monthly premiums. So three out of four people with insurance aren’t even paying for all of it.
Get Your Share
But how many of these consumers are actually using all their dental benefits? While the Delta survey doesn’t mention any numbers, you can be certain that lots of consumers are letting their dental benefits go to waste.
So who’s going to remind these patients that they’re eligible for all sorts of free or subsidized dental care? Well, it probably won’t be their dental insurance companies!
That’s where your dental practice comes in. How many insurance patients does your practice have? How many of them haven’t been in lately? Now that it’s January, how many of them now have access to a year’s worth of benefits? How much money could you make if these patients came in for care?
Bringing insurance patients in is as simple as reminding them that they’re covered. But if you don’t remind them, they can easily fall by the wayside. And in today’s economy, can you afford to lose such a reliable stream of patients?
Next week we’ll discuss exactly how you can remind these patients of their dental benefits and inspire them to make an appointment.
Post a comment
January 14th, 2009 at 4:13 am
We participate in three dental insurance programs, or as it should be properly termed ‘benefit’ programs. My front office person prints a benefit breakdown for EVERY patient that is scheduled for the day. (These benefits are easily attained from the programs website.) Most benefit printouts also have maximum and deductible information as well. This way, we can tell the patient, during treatment, of their benefits. We find this is a great way to utilize their benefits to the maximum. Of course, I don’t limit treatment because of the benefits, I just try to use the benefits the patient has.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I really like your information and advice. How can I get your opinion on a project I am working on with dentists. Our pilot study of 100 dental offices was very successful and I want to an opinion of any flaws with the program before launching it nationwide
Thanks for your time
Dr. Ron Schefdore
January 14th, 2009 at 9:06 am
As a former consultant to Delta Dental of California, I would advise that no one ever believe anything that Delta says unless it is corroborated.
Craig A. Schlie, DDS, AFAAID
January 15th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Dr. Schlie is absolutely correct. First, even when you print the patient’s benefits from the insurance company, especially Delta, the info is often vague as to what they will pay for;re:they don’t tell you that fixed bridge-work is not covered or whether it is a old hole policy and in tiny light blue print near the bottom of the page directs you to another site which is still vague by saying every thing not stated is not covered.
Why hasn’t the dental industry recognized that most dental insurance is the biggest scam being perpertrated on the public, no matter who is paying the premium. Premiums keep increasing, but the benefit level stays the same. These levels have not changed for 20 or 30 years or more. The public has to be made aware of this scam and should be done on a national level, unfortunenatly none of the national dental organizations have the balls to go against the likes of dental insurance companies, especially Dental.
It is easier to accept PPO’s because there are usually no restrictions or paperwork involved.
When we do not stand up to the insurance companies, we are handing over control of our profession to people who don’t care about the welfare of the patients. This is a travesty!!!