Dental Insurance And Individual Health Plans

One could rarely find and buy individual health plans that also cover dental care. There is useful information that people should know especially if they consider buying the policies separately.

It is estimated that about 45 million Americans currently do not own any dental insurance policy. Most non-elderly citizens who own individual health plans also own dental care policies. However, majority of people who buy health insurance plans on their own do not have dental insurance. This data is according to a report released by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While individual health plans cover several added services like basic emergency care as well as costs of prescription drugs, they logically are not required to include coverage for adult oral care. However, for health insurance policies for children, dental services are required.

In March 2010, reforms to the healthcare insurance were set. However, despite the push exerted by many advocates, that bill did not include a wider dental component. Supporters and proponents of the reform argued that individual health plans already cover costs for other pressing health conditions like diabetes and heart diseases.

About 75% of 172 million Americans under the age of 65 years (who own private health insurance policies) have dental insurance plans as well. Their employers mostly provide the health insurances. Among those with separate dental coverage, more than a quarter of them have comprehensive plans with dental insurance while a quarter have stand-alone plans. Some have both.

About 90 million American citizens own individual health plans through Medicaid and Medicare, which both do not offer dental care plans for adults. There is no figure available pertaining to public health insurance plans. Medicaid shoulders dental care for people under 21 years old. The insurer currently serves up to 45 million people belonging to the low-income group. However, such patients complain about troubles in finding accredited dentists.

A separate government-sponsored program provides dental care, albeit limited. It is the Children’s Health Insurance Program. As for the older people, they could always opt to purchase separate dental care policies from health insurers.

Do you look for health insurers that also offer dental care plans? Data from the Association for Health Insurance Plans reveal that there are only a few insurers that do so. Those include Cigna Corp, Aetna Inc, Assurant Inc, Humana Inc, and UnitedHealth Group Inc. The association represents up to 80 of overall dental insurance plans in the US. There are also health insurance plans that offer dental coverage as part of health policies. They include several and specific plans from MetLife, Principal Financial Group Inc, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Experts advise people to buy dental care insurance policies even if they already own individual healthcare plans. Purchasing separate plans is more advisable especially because it would be very hard, if not impossible, to find and buy health insurance policies that also include dental coverage.