How Do Dental Insurances Work?
The last thing people want is to get caught up with medical expenses that they can barely afford. Life is unexpected in a way that you don’t really get to prepare with whatever it throws at you—especially if it’s regarding your health. Nevertheless, there is a way to lessen the blow, and to do that, you need to make yourself medically covered or insured.
Health insurance is essential for you to not be massively burdened by expenses and be financially secured when you go through medical treatments or just anything health-related. In Canada, health insurances are universal and are paid for through taxes.
All you need to do if you are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident is to apply for public health insurance and you can already enjoy the benefits that come with it.
Unfortunately, there are certain medical services that are not covered. One of the services not covered is dental care. Dental care is a non-insured health benefit in Canada; you need to acquire private insurance if you want dental benefits.
How To Get Calgary Dentist Dental Insurance?
Since dental insurance is not covered by universal health care, it belongs to the private realm. For you to acquire dental insurance, you need to buy your own dental benefits plan.
Alternatively, you can get it if it is included in your work’s benefits package. If you buy your own dental benefits plan, make sure to be aware of all the information regarding your chosen plan.
What You Need To Know About Your Dental Benefits Plan
In choosing a dental benefits plan, you need to know the list of treatments that are covered each year because not everything will be covered, the total dollar limit of your coverage, and the frequency limitations.
Also, you need to know the extent of coverage that they offer for certain services and procedures like teeth cleanings, x-rays, fillings, and root canals; even other dental treatments such as bridges and crowns, dentures, and oral surgeries. If you go through a treatment that is not fully covered by your plan, you may need to pay out of pocket for the bill that they won’t reimburse.
This process is called co-payment or co-insurance wherein a portion of the total bill is your own responsibility.
How It Works When You See A Calgary Dentist
The whole process of claiming your benefits is fairly easy to understand especially with the assistance of your top-rated Calgary Alberta dentist. There are two things to remember first: (1) dental plan is the thing that will help you pay for your dental treatment; (2) treatment plan is the personal plan developed by you and your Calgary dentist to meet your oral health needs.
Always remember that your dental plan should never dictate your treatment plan. With that, your dentist will do an exam and provide you with a treatment plan with an estimate of the costs. After that, Calgary dentist SE will submit a pre-treatment plan to your dental plan administrator for a pre-determination of benefits.
This is just part of the initial process and is not guaranteed yet but it will help your claim for reimbursement to be approved. They will then tell you how much of the bill they will cover.
When it comes to the billing, it’s either your dentist takes assignment so all you have to do is pay your co-pay (if you have to) and the dentist will be reimbursed directly by the dental plan provider, or the dentist declines assignment and you are the one reimbursed directly by your dental plan provider to fully pay for the costs.
How Long Do Dental Plans Last?
Dental plans, at least most of them, have an annual maximum. The annual maximum is the maximum amount of dollars that the insurance company or the dental plan administrator will cover in an entire year.
You need to know what your annual maximum amount is for you to have a grasp on how much you can or how much you’ve already spent on dental treatments throughout the year. It is best to always be up-to-date on all your dental expenses.
For your dental plan to feel worthwhile, you need to take advantage of it before the year ends because unused benefits won’t carry over into the new year. Most are automatically wiped out and reset at the end of the year.
As the year is already drawing to a close, this is a great reminder to use your dental benefits before they expire. Schedule dental treatments you’ve been meaning to have and don’t wait it out until the next year.
Book your dental appointment with Inglewood Family Dental today! For bookings and inquiries, you can contact us at (403) 265-5888 to request an appointment and we would be happy to assist you!