Do You Need Dental, Vision Or Hearing Insurance?

On occasion I work with enrollment companies helping people with their voluntary benefits. We have the usual line-up of products, with life insurance and disability plans available for the employees that we meet with. By far, the most requested products are the dental and vision plans. As a matter of fact, the employees will walk in to our one-on-one meetings and say something along the lines of "all I want is my dental and vision". 

There are those of us, myself included, who don't have access to group policies through an employer. For people who are small business owners, contract employees or otherwise self-employed, getting a good individual plan has been difficult. 

On an individual basis, dental plans are available but can be rather pricey. There are usually waiting periods as well, which can make the product unattractive to many people. With all of this in mind, I have been a bit resistant in including a dental plan in our line up of products. That is, until now. 

We have recently begun to offer a plan through one of our carriers, Manhattan Life, which solves many of the issues we have been concerned with. And even better, this plan not only covers dental, but vision and hearing too!

Another reason we have begun to offer these plans is because Medicare does not provide coverage for dental, hearing or vision and many of our clients have requested information for these services of late.  

Here are a few of the basic features*:

• No networks. You can go to any provider.
• A $100 deductible per year per person.
• The plan is available to people from ages 18-85. 
• You can include up to 3 children.
• You can choose your annual maximum benefit of either $1000 or $1500
• Guaranteed Issue (No health questions)
• Guaranteed Renewable. You can keep it as long as your like as long as you pay the premiums.
• No waiting period for preventative and basic dental services.
• Benefits for hearing exams and hearing aids.

(For a more detailed list of services, click here.) 

As mentioned above, not having a network means you can go to any provider. One thing to keep in mind though is that your doctor may or may not file your claim for you. The patient may have to pay the bill in full and submit the claim on their own. Because of this we recommend asking your doctor before receiving services so there are no surprises.  

One of the nice parts of this plan is that if one does not use the full maximum benefit for dental, they can use the balance for vision or hearing services. One of our partner agents was telling me how he only used a small portion of his benefits on the dental plan one year, so he used the balance to get new eyeglasses. That's maximizing your plan!

We have added a quoting tool to our website, but for your convenience you can run your own quote here.  If you like your quote you can even begin the application, which is easy to complete and only takes a few minutes.

Not everyone wants or needs dental insurance. But for those who do, we hope you take a few minutes to look at the plan and run your own quote. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

*Plans vary from state to state. Be sure to ask for a brochure for your state.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!