A Dental plan is an option for people who do not wish to spend much money on ‘full coverage’ with dental insurance. Such plans are provided by certain companies, who charge monthly fees from their clients. There are many dental plans available for residents in the US. The three basic plans are HMO, PPO, and EPO.
HMO stands for Health Management Organizations. Their plans are also called Capitation Dental Plans. Providers of these plans associate themselves with a single dentist who willingly agrees to reduce his fees by attracting a larger number of patients. The responsibility of the provider company is to attract more patients to the contracted dentist and to provide the discounted services of the dentist to his patients. As per this plan, simple cleaning and filling procedures cost almost nothing to the patient. For more complex procedures like root canals, crown filling, bridgework, and dentures, there can be a collaborative payment between the provider company and the patient. The contracted dentist gets a monthly payment depending on the number of patients who visited during the month.
The other plan PPO, which stands for Preferred Provider Organization, is only slightly different from the HMO plan. PPO plan is a closed plan, in which the provider companies associate themselves with a group of dentists practicing in an area. The advantage of enrolling in a PPO is that the patient gets to choose among several dentists according to their preference. This plan provides a discounted service as well.
EPO is Exclusive Provider Organization. It is also a closed plan with a group of contracted dentists like the PPO, but the difference is that the patient cannot choose the dentist from the group; the provider decides which dentists are seen by its clients.
Companies provide dental plans for their employees as an added perk. Usually PPO and EPO plans are favored by employee groups.
All dental plans provide free preventive services for their clients. By doing so, they avert huge medical bills in the case of a serious dental condition in the future. There are limitations on the number of free services provided per year, which is mentioned in the dental plan’s stipulations. For more expensive operations the dental plan provider may pay as much as 50-80% of the total bill.
