Dental Insurance Articles
How Copays Affect Dental Insurance Costs
2010-07-30
A dental insurance quote will often include options for both indemnity and network plans. Indemnity plans reimburse the insured person a specified percentage of the cost of a provided dental service, such as 80 percent. Network plans cover the full cost of services specified within the plan, with the exception of dental insurance copays. A copay is a minimal amount that the insured person must pay at the time when a service is provided. Dental insurance copays may vary for different types of services. For example, a copay may be as low as $10 or $20 for a routine check-up, and as high as $100 or more for expensive procedures, such as root canal work.
When reviewing a dental insurance quote, keep in mind that dental insurance copays are a major factor in determining the premium costs for network plans. Plans with higher copays will typically cost less to purchase. By requiring the insured person to pay more out-of-pocket for a provided service, a network plan can offer dental insurance coverage at a lower cost.
The inverse relationship between dental insurance copays and monthly premiums makes for an interesting balancing act when you look at a dental insurance quote. You may not always want to go with the quote that has lowest monthly premium. This is particularly the case if the copays are very high and you expect to need a lot of dental services in a given year. Higher monthly premiums, but lower dental insurance copays, may actually save you more money in the long run.
Another consideration to make when reviewing dental insurance quotes is that network plans will either limit you to dentists within their network or charge you much higher dental insurance copays if you choose to go outside their network. If you are not satisfied with any of the dentists in the network, you might end up paying more out-of-pocket for necessary services. On the other hand, if an acceptable dentist is available within the network, you may save a significant amount of money.
Finally, dental insurance quotes will vary depending on the scope of coverage. Not every plan will cover all possible dental services. Plans with more limited coverage will typically cost much less than plans with more extensive coverage. Some network plans have reasonable monthly premiums and relatively low dental insurance copays, but will not cover such procedures as root canal or bridge work. While the quoted price for these plans will be attractive, they will also require you to pay more out-of-pocket if you ever need dental services not covered by the plans. Understanding the interplay between premiums, coverage and copays will ultimately help you choose the best dental insurance plan.