Careington Dental Savings Plans

Discount Dental Plans

Careington distinguishes itself in the dental benefits market by offering an alternative to traditional insurance (for example, see Careington’s Series 500 Dental Savings). Instead of paying a large monthly premium (and deductible) for coverage, Careington members pay an inexpensive fee that entitles them to access a provider network where the dentists have agreed to charge reduced rates for covered services. Careington ’s discount model is not insurance but rather a savings network, and has several features that distinguish it from a variety of traditional dental insurance and indemnity plans:

• Unlike most PPO and indemnity dental insurance plans, Careington members do not have an annual limit (e.g. $1,500) on what will be paid by the company providing dental coverage
• Careington members do not have to file claim forms for reimbursement like indemnity plans
• Careington members do not have waiting periods that delay the coverage of more expensive dental care
• Careington members do not pay a deductible before they start enjoying reduced dental rates

Dental discount cards like the ones offered by Careington have been growing in market share across the country. By 2016, nearly 8 million Americans were using dental discount plans. Unlike dental PPO plans, dental discount plans do not cover dental treatment obtained outside of the plan's network. In this way, the network of the discount plan is comparable to the network of a dental HMO plan (and less like a PPO or indemnity plan).

Additionally, a discount plan's savings represent a percentage reduction of the total cost of a dental procedure. The remainder is paid by the member. This out-of-pocket responsibility is similar to traditional dental plans where a coinsurance fee is charged for a covered service. However, traditional dental insurance may cover all the costs of some preventive care (routine exams and teeth cleanings) while members of a discount plan will still pay a percentage of those costs out-of-pocket.

Outside of this preventive care, traditional dental insurance not only has the enrollee pay out-of-pocket costs for covered services but also caps the total spending the insurer will put toward dental care annually. In contrast, a discount dental plan such as the ones offered by Careington lack such a cap. A discount dental plan also charges a single annual fee instead of the monthly premiums charged by dental insurers and may represent a lower annual charge for coverage than traditional insurance.

Careington Highlights

• Dental services provided by Careington network dentists can be used as often as needed with no restrictions on the number of times a dental service is used during a year
• There are no annual limit on dental savings
• There are no approval forms or claim forms to be completed by members as is the case for some other dental plans