Ask the Dentist!
Dental Insurance: The Dictator
What do I mean when I say dental insurance is a dictator? For both the patient and dentist, dental insurance companies like to dictate who you can see, what you are allowed to do, how often you can have it done, how much they will or will not pay, and what they believe is best for you. Our office, on occasion, will receive a phone call from a patient saying they have to go to another dentist because we are not on their dental insurance. Really? They have to? Says who?
There is a reason our office is not on any dental insurance plans. After dental school, residency training in the Air Force, hundreds of hours of continuing education and many years of treating patients, I feel confident in saying I know and try to do what’s best for my patients. What did the insurance company do? Crunch a few numbers and come up with a way to make more money. Yet patients let the insurance company decide what’s in their best interest. I still haven’t figured that one out. I can understand wanting to save a few dollars, but at what cost? If all dental care and all dentists were the same, that line of thinking would make perfect sense but unfortunately, that’s not the case.
In a lot of instances patients, are most concerned with how much dental care costs. So, you have to ask yourself – why is it cheaper to go to a dentist on your dental insurance plan? This happens when insurance companies recruit dentists to sign up (work for them) in return for discounting their dental treatment and accepting lower reimbursements. So, my question is would you think a dentist accepting lower payments, discounting treatment and working for an insurance company would be delivering the exact same quality care as a dentist working for the patient and having the freedom to make decisions that are in the patient’s best interest?
Maybe.
I’m just posing a question for thought. In my view, if I had to work for an insurance company, discount my fees and accept very low reimbursements I could not possibly provide the same level of care as I do now. I would have to find ways to offset the cost of being on an insurance plan such as cheaper materials, shorter appointments and seeing more patients. That’s just not the way I choose to practice. I believe my patients deserve better.
Just remember, dental insurance is not the only way to afford dental care. Our office offers a number of financial options including Care Credit and a Loyalty Membership Plan. Do what’s right for you, not what a dental insurance company says if right for you.
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