Individual Dental Insurance Without Group Coverage

By Staff Writer at DiscountedDentalCard.com

Many without supplemental group dental insurance at work are not covered with an individual dental policy. This is not wise because dental problems occur throughout the population.  So whether you are part of a large family, single,  married, young or old...whether you are a student, employed, self employed or stay-at-home, there will be dental bills in your future.  If you are an individual without a dental policy, there are options available to you.

A Range of Coverage

The first option available to you is to apply for an individual dental policy. Many insurance companies offer policies to individuals whom are not covered at work with a supplemental dental policy. These individual dental policies range widely in what dental procedures they cover and how comprehensive they are in covering your dental care needs.  Some policies will cover basic dental care such as office visits to the dentist, routine check-ups, fillings, emergency pain management, x-rays and the like but when it comes to more difficult and involved dental work such as oral surgery, they are lacking. The benefit to these basic policies is the premium is more affordable than other "Cadillac" plans.

More comprehensive Cadillac plans may cover, not only oral surgery, but also could include reconstruction, orthodontics, dental implants, dentures or dental work considered cosmetic.  These plans will of course require a higher premium payment.

How You Can Pay Your Premiums

Whether you choose a lower cost policy or the most complete policy, your premium payments can be made one of several ways.  You can pay the premium monthly. Many insurance companies require a checking account debit arrangement for monthly premium payments requiring you to automatically withdraw the monthly premium out of your checking account on the same day each month when the premium is due.

You may also have quarterly, semi-annual and yearly payment options available.  Generally the less frequent you pay the premium the smaller the premium payment will be because most insurance companies will reward you with a discounted premium if they have to process fewer premium payments during the year.  However, sometimes the insurance company will give you an annual premium discount if you will allow them to debit your checking account for one twelfth the annual premium amount. It seems they like to get their premium payment automatically wire transferred to them from your checking account as much as they like to receive the premium payment annually.

Qualifying for an Individual Dental Insurance Policy

Individual dental insurance is not like group insurance because insurance companies want to pick and choose among applicants in order to control their risk. This means applying for individual policies must be done with an application form. An agent will interview you regarding any health problems past or present.  Once the application is received at the home office an underwriter will ask for more information from your doctors if needed and hospital if you were admitted to a hospital within the last several years. Once all of the information is in and evaluated your policy will be issued if you are deemed to be acceptable risk. During the underwriting process the insurance company may decide you have a preexisting condition that will be excluded. They may also decide to increase your premium if your health condition does not fit into their standard or preferred rate tables for your age and gender.

Policy Provisions

After your have the policy there may a waiting period before you use the policy. Once the waiting period if any is over you will be subject to a deductible and coinsurance.  Waiting periods can last from a few months to one or two years for higher cost procedures.  The deductible you choose will be from a few hundred dollars to one or two thousand. Higher deductibles will usually have lower premiums. The coinsurance percentage of the bill you will be responsible for will be around 20%.

Generally you will be able to go to the dentist of your choice, although some dental insurance companies will restrict access to an approved list. The payments to the dentist will go directly to the dental office after the claim form has been filled out by you or the dentist's administrative staff and processed by the insurance company. Other resources on indivdual dental insurance.