Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Dental Plan Scams

In these slow economic conditions, I have found a new scam that as a potential purchaser of a dental plan you should be aware of.

Since we are a dental plan, we spend many hours each week monitoring what's happening in the dental field. One of the newest things popping up is dental offices offering their own dental plan.

This may appear to be a great offer to the patient of the dental office BUT it should raise a couple of red flags too.

1. For a small fee (usually under $100.00 per year), paid directly to the dental office, they will lower their usual fee by as much as 50%. The main question to ask yourself is, "why are their usual fees so high to begin with". We all know that such a small membership fee doesn't offset the discount that they are offering.

2. Does the fact that they are willing to drop their fees if you purchase their dental plan cause a trust issue with that dental office? When I have the chance to explain in detail like I did in paragraph 1, the majority of the people I talk with usually develop some level of a trust issue.

3. What happens if you decide that you don't like the dental office, don't agree with the treatment plan or move too far away making it almost impossible to continue to go to that dental office. Is another dental office going to accept the plan that you purchased? I can say with 99.9% accuracy the answer is NO!! You are now stuck with a dental plan that you can only use at one office or a mega office (a series of offices managed by a group) and no where else.

Dental plans like Savon do one thing. They provide their members with quality, affordable dental care at over 13,000 dental offices nationwide. The dental plan controls the fees not the dental office. If you have a problem with a dentist, simply choose a new dentist. If you feel you were overcharged, the dental plan is there to act on your behalf in sorting out the issue.

Don't get caught in the trap of purchasing a dental plan that may be good only at the dental office or dental group that sells it to you. Investigate all of your options and find a good solid dental plan that works for you.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like how you can see any dentist on your plan. You are not stuck if you move or if you dont like them!

Anonymous said...

I Joined one in Arizona and it was a big mistake. I wish whoever wrote this blog would have done it sooner. I would have saved me a lot of grief and money.