Dental Insurance

It is difficult to understand dental insurance plans and patient rights. At Miller and Miller, our commitment to excellence never waivers; therefore, it is important to us that our patients understand the best way to unlock their dental coverage, ascertain their rights and in doing so maximize their benefits.

Developed in the 1960s, dental insurance coverage and limits have changed little over the nearly 50 years they have been in existence. Defined as “protection against a sickness or accident,” the term insurance has been used in medicine only to cover catastrophic loss that can occur as a result of sickness or accident. In dentistry, the term is further demoted, leaving benefits only as the allowance which is negotiated for an employee between his/her place of employment and the insurance company.

Yearly benefit limits have remained unchanged throughout the years, with the majority of plans maxing out between $1000 and $1500. However, in these same past 40+ years, the premiums associated with dental plans have skyrocketed, leaving a huge gap between the amount of premium paid and the amount of dental services covered. In fact, if dental benefits were to have kept up with inflation as premiums have, they would amount to more than $10,000 per calendar year. It’s a definite lose/lose/win proposition for the patient/dentist/insurance company. Insurance companies are not in business to best serve patients’ needs, they are investors looking at their bottom line.

Years ago, as Dr. Chris and Dr. Matt Miller built their practice, they decided that each and every patient deserved the finest quality and highest standard of care based upon what was appropriate to their needs, not what the insurance dictated for them. This decision was based on a number of factors, including:

• Miller and Miller’s goal of establishing a customer-for-life relationship with patients. Insurance companies managing care based on cost, not concern for the patient.
• Miller and Miller’s goal of attracting patients who truly value, appreciate and trust the quality of dental care provided. High quality care should never be denied on the sole merit of bottom line.

Insurance companies lead patients to believe that dentist fees greatly exceed usual and customary fees. Many insurance companies take the misconception further, as it is customary for a patient to believe that the only way to access the benefits of their insurance plan is to visit a specific set of dentists. This is simply not true.

The misnomer remains that out-of-pocket expenses will be greater when visiting a dentist that is out network, however, dental offices endorsed by the insurance companies many times result in the same out-of-pocket expenses for the patient. Because other insurance-endorsed dental offices often recommend services well above and beyond what a patient needs, a much higher payout by the insurance company is received, so it works to the advantage of these dental offices to over-diagnose what is truly necessary for the patient in order to inflate the fee amounts being submitted to the insurance company.

At Miller and Miller, our office staff specializes in working with insurance companies to find the best way to unlock every benefit dollar deserved. Dr. Chris and Dr. Matt spend quality time with every patient to develop a dental plan that meets every need, yet does not go beyond the care required. We ask that our patients commit to choosing the dentistry they need based on what is best for them, rather than what the insurance says they should have.