How Does Ameritas Dental Insurance Work?
If the idea of finding a dental insurance plan to help you cover the cost of your dental care sounds like it is going to be complicated and confusing, Ameritas dental insurance plans may be the solution you need. Their plans give you more control over your budget, so you can handle routine and major dental care, and choose where and from whom you get your dental care.
Upon enrollment in an Ameritas plan, you receive a specific set of benefits. Your Ameritas Dental Insurance plan benefits are just the services for which the insurance plan will contribute. The benefits will detail how much the insurance company pays and what your payment is for each procedure. Benefits are broken down into types of treatment or classes of services. Preventive services, basic services, and major services are the major categories of treatments. Preventive services are the most common services, like cleanings, exams, and X-rays, and the highest reimbursement levels are paid for preventive services. Basic or restorative services like fillings or simple extractions are reimbursed at a lower percentage and may require co-payments from the patient. Crowns, bridges, dentures, and surgical procedures that are major services may have different coverage levels or a waiting period before people with a policy can receive benefits.
When you are choosing a dental insurance plan, you should take into consideration the dentists who participate with the insurance. Because Ameritas has a large network of participating providers, or dentists who have contracted costs with the insurance company, Ameritas providers usually have lower out-of-pocket costs. You get a reduced rate, so your out-of-pocket costs go down. If you have a preferred dentist, check to see which insurance the dentist participates with to make sure that you are continuing treatment with the same provider.
Annual deductibles are the amount you pay out of your own pocket before your plan contributes to the cost of covered services. In the case of preventative care, those may not apply to the deductible and will be covered. After the deductible is met, the plan pays a percentage of the treatment cost.
Most Ameritas plans also max out annually, which means the insurance plan has a limit on how much it will pay during any calendar year. Preventive care visits may or may not be included in this total. You may wish to monitor your annual maximum and schedule treatments accordingly if you know that you will need multiple visits.
Ameritas dental insurance plans might allow carryover benefits that increase your maximum annual benefit if you do not meet the limit during the previous year. There are often add-on benefits for orthodontics or specialty care, such as endodontics or periodontics. These add-ons give you ways to customize the plan to match your long-term oral health goals.
If you have more questions about Ameritas Dental Insurance or how it could work as a part of your treatment plan to achieve better dental health, make an appointment with the dentist to see if Ameritas Dental Insurance is the best option for you.