Truscott Benefits

Truscott Benefits

Dental & Vision

Dental and vision care are not only the 3^rd and 4^th requested benefit by employees (behind health and prescriptions benefits), they are two of the top indicators to good health. Studies have shown that the health of one’s mouth is directly correlated to the overall health of their body. Also, a routine eye exam can show indications of over 30 known health conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

Are you looking for an affordable dental and vision plan? We argue that you should be looking for an effective dental and vision plan.

HMO dental plans are very affordable with single rates ranging from $8 - $20 per month for a single person. A member must select and utilize a contracted HMO provider. The member is responsible for paying the copay amount(s) associated with procedure(s) rendered. Most of the preventive and diagnostic procedures are in fact at a $0 copay. As the complexity of the procedure goes up so do the copays. Benefit sheet will read similar to a menu, with a list of procedures and the corresponding copays.

Dental Comparison Grid	HMO	PPO	Discount Program
Premiums (Single)	$8-$20	$30-$50	$6-$9
Out-of-Pocket Expense	Copayment Schedule	Co-Insurance %	Negotiated Discount
Preventive	$0-$25	80%-100%	30%-60%
Basic	$10-$75	60%-80%	30%-60%
Major	$75-$300	40%-50%	30%-60%
Annual Maximum	None	$1,000 $1,500 $2,000	None
Network	HMO	PPO	PPO
Waiting Period	None	6-12 months	None
Positives	Affordable premiums & copays	Flexibility of IN & OUT of network benefits	Affordable premiums, large PPO network, and no waiting periods
Negatives	Must select an HMO Dentist. Some procedures not covered. Frequent "up-sell" by dentist leading to higher out-of-pocket expense	Hi monthly premium & waiting periods make some people consider self insuring. Major services can still be costly.	No out-of-network benefit. Minimal savings on Major procedures.

Many of the health plans we quote will have an option for you to add dental and/or vision benefits on the application for a nominal fee. While these are good products, we suggest you consider what you get from some of the discount plans on the market. For example PacifiCare has a product that will give you between 30-60% off of your dental and vision services for $8.95 a single or $10.95 a family a month. You can’t beat that!