Dental Plans Options
People on Medicare have a few different options when it comes to purchasing plans that cover dental services. Those options are:
- Dental, vision, and hearing plans: these are the most popular plans among Medicare beneficiaries because they include three major things that Original Medicare typically doesn’t cover. Plans benefits include no network restrictions, and there are usually no waiting periods for preventive and basic dental services, you can choose individual or family plans, and everyone from age 18-85 are eligible. Monthly premiums can be as low as 37$ a month or can go up to 64$ a month. That depends on which type of coverage you would like to choose. Vision coverage that is included provides benefits like eye exams, eye refractions, eyeglasses, or lenses cost. The waiting period for eyeglasses or lenses may be up to 6 months. Hearing coverage includes hearing aids, exams, and necessary repairs or supplies. The waiting period for hearing aids may be up to 6 months
- Stand-alone dental insurance plans: these plans are usually an HMO or PPO standalone plans, with them you can also choose a level of coverage you want, from preventative and basic to major coverage, but be careful to choose an insurance company that includes your preferred network of dentists in their plans. With HMO dental plans you will usually have a lower monthly premium but you need to stay in the network to get coverage, whilst with PPO plans beneficiaries can go out-of-network, but with higher monthly costs
- Medicare Advantage plans: most Medicare Advantage plans include dental benefits as part of their coverage. But these benefits often include a small amount of coverage, so you should check what is actually offered to you before enrolling in Medicare Advantage. If you are not satisfied with the number of benefits and cost, but already have an MA plan you can talk with your provider about what your options are, and even purchase a stand-alone dental insurance plan to get more benefits.