Dental story online

Finding cheap dental insurance providers has become increasingly important. With many people having "reduced" health insurance plans that do not cover dentistry, and many more having no health insurance to speak of, low-cost dental providers may be the only option.

A large percentage of the population has employer-based insurance plans. This means that your employer pays all or part of your insurance, but it also means you are limited to the plan or plans they make available to you. There are some employers who will offer a health-insurance "offset", meaning if you don't take the plans they offer, they will provide an "offset" payment for you to find your own health insurance with. In those cases, it's imperative to find the cheapest insurance providers possible, as the "offset" rarely covers the cost of the plan, and the balance is going to come out of your pocket.

If you go with an employer-provided plan, you will probably have some options on your coverage. How important is the dental coverage portion? You might have to compromise in order to get the coverage you deem appropriate for you or your family.

For those with dental insurance, it is a matter of finding a dentist or clinic that accepts your insurance plan, within the area you can reach. Most providers, HMO's, etc., provide books listing their member providers. However anyone who has tried to look up a health care provider to make an appointment quickly learns that many of the doctors and such listed in these books either no longer accept that particular plan, or aren't taking new patients.

The reasons for this are often economic. HMO's use their "buying power" to squeeze their providers on the rates they charge, since this comes directly out of the insurer's pocket, so-to-speak. Since these organizations often represent huge patient pools, they have a lot of leverage. But that doesn't mean the particular provider is eager to take patients knowing they may get only a fraction of what their regular fees or rates are.

Assuming you don't already have a plan, or are one of millions in a position to have to find one on your own, you may have to shop around quit a bit in order to find a low-cost provider. Once strategy for finding cheap dental insurance providers, is to look for dentists as if you were paying out-of-pocket, shop around for a low-cost dentist, and ask them what insurance plans they participate in.

In some cases, the best bet is going to be shopping for the least-expensive general plan that allows "out-of-network" doctors. Then, depending on the guidelines of your plan, you go "out-of-network" by getting a referral from a primary care physician. You can usually ask the primary care physician for a referral for a specific dentist that you've already located through your 'shopping around' efforts.

Generally speaking though, searching online will be your best bet in finding cheap dental insurance providers. Make a list of your priorities - distance, type of dentistry, etc. Take advantage of "local search" options to make a list, then contact them directly. You might also look to some of the "rating" sites such as Angie's List, which can give you patient reviews as well.