While Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 lakes, the state has nearly 15,000 dental professionals in the form of dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants (according to the Minnesota Department of Health). If you're planning on using one and need insurance, this article will:
DentalInsurance.com reviewed 19 different dental plans offered through six separate insurance companies operating in Minnesota.
The average premium across the 19 options was $36.13 for individual coverage. The most inexpensive option was a dental discount program (Careington 500 Series Dental Savings) for $8.89 a month and the most costly among the plans examined was the Renaissance Max Choice Plus, at $64.58 a month.
The average annual deductible for a single enrollee was $69. One plan, The MetLife TakeAlong Dental High, had a $25 annual deductible and the Careington Discount Card had no deductible.
Family deductibles were higher than deductibles for a single enrollee, often tied to the number of people on the plan.
A maximum benefit is the cap on how much an insurance company will pay for covered dental care within a year. The lowest maximum benefit for the 19 plans was $500 and the highest was $2,500. The average was $1,289 a year, with only the dental discount card lacking a maximum benefit restriction.
With the exception of the Careington 500 Series Dental Savings plan, the rest of the dental plans reviewed were Preferred Provider Organizations (dental PPO). Dental PPOs are the most common type of dental plan in the United States. It tends toward wider networks and less restriction on the use of out-of-network dentists. Other types of dental coverage include Health Maintenance Organizations (dental HMO) and Dental Indemnity Plans.
With your review of the Minnesota dental insurance market, you're better prepared to shop for dental insurance bargains. The following link will get dental insurance quotes for plans available in your region of Minnesota. You can also look below at the bestsellers to see what Minnesota plans have the highest sales on DentalInsurance.com.
No waiting periods. Increasing benefits. Get the most out of this plan by using one of our 115,000
network providers.
Plan type: PPO
Plan Maximum: $1500
Unlimited use of this discount plan as of the effective date.
Plan type: Discount Card
Plan Maximum: N/A
100% preventive coverage on day one. $2000 plan maximum. No waiting periods.
Plan type: PPO
Plan Maximum: $2000
The Minnesota Dental Association has a membership of over 3,000 dentists and advocates within the state for legislation addressing scope of practice, oral health, and safety issues. Their website’s Public Resources sections includes guidance on choosing a dentist, access to dental care, oral health advice, and a code of conduct for dentists.
The state’s Department of Health provides a free online resource regarding dental care programs, state data on oral health, and resources on state grants related to oral health.
The Minnesota Dental Association publishes an online listing of free, or sliding fee scale, dental clinics.
Comprehensive Care Dental Clinics offered through The University of Minnesota provide consumers with reduced cost dental care administered by dental students under the supervision of U of M faculty. Because these are teaching clinics which leverage dentists in training, fees are usually 30 percent lower than the average fees in the Twin Cities community. Adults as well as children are served by the clinics.
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