Insurance Covering Ortho?

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#16 Post by **cat t** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:48 pm

I believe I was very lucky. I only paid $895 for my braces, everything, followups, etc. included. HOWEVER, we are paying about $95 a month for a family dental plan. With health, dental, and vision we were paying more in premiums than our house payments last year, and my employer pays my portion. So I do not know if that is really the bargain it initially sounds like. If I would have to pay 3 or 4 grand I doubt I would have done it. Ths almost $900 chunk was quite a bit because my teeth were not really badly out of whack. But having the braces off for 10 days now my teeth look great, even with retainers, and I am glad that I did it. And I plan to faithfully wear my retainers the rest of my life, because I will never again be able to have braces.

#17 Post by **missingu** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:13 pm

KJNELLAMORE

According to Delta Dental's web site, they are in Louisiana, but they only show listings in 4 major cities (New Orleans, Shreveport and some other 2...)

This link should get you to the page where you can select "Regional Directories" to see if there are providers near you:

www.deltadentalins.com/enrollee/index.html

From looking at the web site, it appears the policies can be purchased as an individual as opposed to an employer, but I didn't read the fine print!

Good luck.

#18 Post by **missingu** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:13 pm

KJNELLAMORE

According to Delta Dental's web site, they are in Louisiana, but they only show listings in 4 major cities (New Orleans, Shreveport and some other 2...)

This link should get you to the page where you can select "Regional Directories" to see if there are providers near you:

www.deltadentalins.com/enrollee/index.html

From looking at the web site, it appears the policies can be purchased as an individual as opposed to an employer, but I didn't read the fine print!

Good luck.

#19 Post by **erica** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 6:54 am

I've had Delta Dental for years, and my plans always covered orthodontia for kids only. But since January 2006, they added adult orthodontia coverage as well. It's too late for me (I have only a few months left in braces and already paid for my treatment in full), but it made me SO HAPPY to see that maybe adult orthodontia is becoming mainstream enough that adults on this board in the future will be getting a lot more assistance from their insurance companies!

#20 Post by **mommy1** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:51 pm

delta dental has offered orthodontia for adults for many years now, it just would depend on one's employer if they offered the plan to their employees for adult orthodontia.

the individual plan missingu talks about is called delta pmi, which you don't have to go through any employer for, and they also have offered adult orthodontia coverage for a few years now too.

#21 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:03 pm

thanks so much for the links guys! I am getting conflicting information, but it SEEMS like they have Delta here if you have it provided by a company, but they don't have it here if you are an individual. Not sure why, but I am going to call and ask.. so, I will update!

#22 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:11 pm

Hmm yeah, it seems that they offer company coverage here, but not individual coverage. BLAH! Any other ideas?!

#23 Post by **Echo** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:40 pm

I'm pretty lucky. Not only does my family have double coverage, but my employer pays for 100% of my insurance premiums (medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, etc.) and my medical deductible is only $100 and everything is paid 100% after that, and it's a PPO plan. My dental covers children and adults 50% for orthodontia. I probably would not have gotten braces if it didn't, because I really didn't need them, just wanted my teeth to be absolutely perfect (I'm a little obsessed with teeth!). I only ended up with a bill for $1000 for my treatment. What is really great though is that during my son's treatment, my husband's company switched insurance companies, and the new company started paying on my son's ortho. Well, his bill is paid and they are still paying, so it started going towards my bill since our accounts are combined. I owe my ortho $75 tomorrow, and my last payment will be in one month. I'm glad it will be paid in full before the braces come off!

#24 Post by **missingu** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 9:15 pm

KJNELLAMORE

Here's another suggestion. The web site:

www.dentalplans.com

is like a "clearinghouse" for dental insurances/plans. I am sure some are better than others, and whether they are discount plans vs. insurance (which actually doesn't matter that much in dental) but there are some "name" companies. It searches according to zip code, so I couldn't search on your part of Louisiana, but it is a pretty simple web page to follow. A bit quirky on the dentist postings (and they do allow you to do an advanced search on specialty) but worth a try.

Keep us posted.

#25 Post by **victory1** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:09 am

I have Metlife through work, it's managed care; they pay 65% and up to $3,000. Also if you go with an Ortho on their network, there's a special discount right on top and it's up to 35%. My 12 to 15 month estimate for my braces where $3,200 but because I'm with Metlife they brought it down to $2,500 and Metlife paid $1800 of it and I paid $800.

#26 Post by **Aine** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:25 pm

KJNELLAMORE

My plan through Concordia is called Concordia Flex.....I am covered under an employer plan in Pennsylvania...hope that helps!