5 ms·
That's rubbish. How do you think their business model works? They make enough to pay your procedure, plus all their overhead, plus return a profit to their shar
by eloff 9y ago
That's rubbish. How do you think their business model works? They make enough to pay your procedure, plus all their overhead, plus return a profit to their shareholders - all out of your premiums.
Unless you have reason to believe you're going to require many times more procedures than the average person, it's a waste of money.
With health insurance it's very different, because if you get unlucky it could bankrupt you. A $500-$1500 dental bill is only marginally more than a years premiums, and you won't be needing to pay that every year.
It only makes sense if your employer pays it as a benefit. EDIT I missed the "if you know you need work done" part, or it was added afterward. Clearly if there's no limitations on pre-existing conditions AND no requirement that you maintain the policy for at least N years AND you know you need work done, then it may well make sense temporarily. It's just math, and you have to do the math and read all the fine print. But without that asymmetric "insider knowledge" that you need work, or that you will need substantially more work than the average, you're expected return will be negative.
- kbutler 9y agobdcravens said "if you know you need work done, it is cost effective over paying full price" and eloff tried to contradict by saying it's rubbish unless you know you need more than average. Agreed, dental insurance tends to be more like pre-payment, but if you do the math and it works out (and there aren't limitations on pre-existing conditions!) it can be a good option even on an individual basis.
- bdcravens 9y agoWorth noting that unlike health insurance, there's no penalty for not having insurance. Unless you're in pain, you have an idea what your procedures over the next year will look like so you could game the system (though it looks like dental policies are adjusting to that strategy, with increasing payouts or requiring you to wait 12+ months for certain kinds of work)
- bdcravens 9y agoI'm literally talking about what I spent on dental work in 2017. (I had a private plan) Are you telling me my dentist would have given me >$1500 discount on my work if I didn't have insurance?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- bdcravens 9y ago> A $500-$1500 dental bill is only marginally more than a years premiums My private insurance was around $360 for 2017, and I used the full $1500 benefit (plus the regular visit/cleaning benefit); I'd call that more than marginal. But yes, if you don't use it all, it may not be worth it (similar to AppleCare, unless you're certain you'll need a screen repair or two given your normal use)
- eloff 9y agoAnd how many years of premiums have you been paying, and expect to pay? Unless you make substantially more claims than average, you're still losing.
- bdcravens 9y agoI do, but I get your point. So let's say you're a great patient and only ever use the cleaning/checkup benefit. Would 2 visits a year cost more than you're premium? My gut feeling is that dental insurance companies make money because many underutilize their insurance.
- bestnameever 9y agoI had a difficult root canal performed once and had to pay $2000 out of pocket. I had no insurance. A friend of mine also had a root canal and also paid $2000, but they had insurance. It's not an equal comparison as I know of dentists that you can also go to get a root canal for $500.00 without insurance but the cost to my friend with insurance seemed excessively high and makes me wonder if many dentists are just milking it.