Dental Insurance Details

Insurance can be so confusing! What’s covered? What’s not?

How do you review insurance benefits with your employees? Do you give them a packet of information with a deadline? Or do you email instructions with a link to enroll online? While those methods may be a quick and easy way to complete enrollment, we’re missing an opportunity to serve and connect with our employees.

We need to educate employees on what benefits we offer and how those benefits can help them. The more personable this conversation can be, the more likely it is that employees will retain the information. I’m going to paraphrase something I’ve heard Dave Ramsey say many times. We need to have the heart of a teacher when we’re discussing benefits.

For example, when telling an employee that preventive dental care is covered at 100% on your plan, you run the risk of sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher. The employees hear you, but they may not understand you. However, it will make more sense if you explain that dental cleanings and x-rays are considered preventive procedures and employees won’t have to pay for them because the plan covers 100% of the charge.

Here are some other features you should review from your dental plan:

How to find a dentist that is in-network and why this is helpful
ID cards (physical or digital)
Coverage for dependents
Deductible
Coinsurance
Differences between in-network and out-of-network benefits
Preventive care
Basic restorative care
Major restorative care
Orthodontia coverage
Wisdom teeth and oral surgery
Annual maximum benefit
How to read an Explanation of Benefits
Plan year dates
Life events
Open Enrollment dates
Premiums (deduction amounts, pre-tax or after-tax)

While this may seem like a lot of information to review, we never want to assume that employees completely understand their benefits. They usually learn through experience. Fortunately, the more we share, the better their experience can be.

Categories: : Benefits