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Health and Dental Insurance vs Discount Plans

Lots of Americans are familiar with regular health insurance, but discount plans can offer a the perfect cost to coverage for many people.

Author: S Porter
Date: Mar 26, 2009 - 6:05:52 AM

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There are many options available to Americans for health and dental plans.   The most common health plan is regular insurance provided by employers, but there are other types of plans that don’t cost as much.   Dental plans are also usually provided by the workplace, but they are disappearing as employers are trying to cope with rising health costs.   46 million Americans are without health insurance and nearly 50% of this country has no dental insurance.   As we live longer and demand more from our health and dental providers, the price tag for these plans will continue to go up.

Health insurance is what everyone is familiar with, but most people don’t really know how it works.   You and your employer pay the insurance company a regular monthly premium, and you are responsible for a small co-pay when you go see the doctor or get a prescription.   Over time, the money you pay the insurance company adds up to much more than the average person will ever use in healthcare.   If something tragic happens, you will thank your lucky stars that you have insurance, but even major surgery will not offset a lifetime of paying into the system.   Insurance companies only pay the doctor a small percentage of what they bill and the result is multi-million dollar insurance companies.

Dental insurance works almost exactly the same way that health insurance does but dental insurance companies are usually much smaller.   Like healthcare, you will pay into the system much more than you will ever use for the comfort of having it when you need it.   Most employers have stopped offering dental to their employees because it’s not as important as health, but still expensive.   You can also get a dental plan directly from some dentists that work in a dental chain, but they don’t usually cover the big expenses like braces.   This leaves most people stuck with nothing and they just pay full price when they need to go to the dentist.

Discount plans like Ameriplan are the alternative to regular health and dental insurance.   With these programs, you pay a very small monthly fee and in return the health and dental providers give you a large discount on their services.   The down side to these plans is that 80% off a $100,000 bill is still a $20,000 bill.   You pay the discounted price that insurance companies enjoy, but this can still leave you stuck if something really bad happens.   Dental is better than health with these programs because no one is going to lose their house over a dental bill.   These plans are good for people that have no health or dental at all because something is better than nothing, and the cost is hundreds of dollars less per month.

View all articles by S Porter

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