Most folks on Medicare want to know what the best dental, vision, and hearing plans are. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a one size fits all type of plan? Sorry to say there isn’t.
Best Dental Plan
The best dental plan is one that your dentist takes. Make no mistake, this is the first priority since most plans use a network of dentists. If your dentist is not in that plan’s network, you could be looking at either bills not being covered at all, or a reduced amount being paid out for being out-of-network.
The next thing you want to make sure is that the dental insurance plan covers more key procedures than it excludes. Case in point, some dental plans will not cover implants, while others will. If the plan covers implants or another major procedure, does this mean that you can simply wait until the dentist tells you that you need this service and then go get a policy to immediately pay for it? This is a resounding No!
We would all love to be able to pay a monthly premium of around $40 to have $5,000 of expenses paid. The reality is that insurance doesn’t work this way. Most dental plans have waiting periods for major services that can be up to 12 months. This protects the insurance company from having someone simply sign up, pay $40 and then get the expensive procedure done (and then maybe cancel their policy afterwards).
Last but not least, the dental plan you choose should be within your budget. Plan premiums can vary based upon the carrier and the benefits they will pay out in a given year. This doesn’t mean you should simply shop for the lowest premium plan. The reality is that one of the lowest priced plans on the market also offers the most basic of benefits and has a low annual maximum benefit.
Read our article on Best Dental Insurance for Seniors on Medicare to see our top picks.
Best Vision Plan
Just like we discussed under best dental plan, you want to find a plan that is going to provide you with needed benefits for your vision. This is where things get a bit harder for seniors on Medicare, since there are very few stand-alone vision plans. In fact most plans available for Medicare beneficiaries are actually part of dental plans. The dental plan is the primary set of benefits, and the vision is a small component of the plan that gives you ‘some’ benefits to use towards your eye care needs.
An example of this would be a plan that provides up to $5,000 per year towards dental needs, but provides the following type of vision benefits:
- Basic eye exam, eye refraction where it pays 60% of the costs during the first year. Keep in mind, if you exhaust your $5,000 dental benefits for the year, you won’t reserve any benefits for vision, as you’ve already met the annual maximum payout for dental needs.
- Glasses and Contacts – usually will have a 6 month waiting period and will be covered either once per year or every other year.
Can you buy a dental plan and then a separate vision plan? Yes, but as we said earlier, they are not easy to find. The good news is that Senior Benefit Services, Inc has not only comprehensive dental, vision, and hearing plans, but also a stand-alone vision plan. This is really important for folks that may have some dental benefits thru an employer plan or maybe from a Medicare Advantage plan.
Best Hearing Plan
The biggest problem about obtaining hearing coverage is that the folks who really want it, already have hearing issues. Maybe they are losing their hearing and know that hearing aids are the next step they will have to take, or they are already using hearing aids.
Typically hearing aid benefits are an added benefit found in many dental plans for seniors on Medicare. The benefits for hearing aids typically work along the same lines as the built in vision benefits that we discussed above.
- Exam, hearing aid and necessary repairs or supplies will typically have coverage at about 60% of the dental plan’s maximum annual benefit during the first year.
- Hearing Aids – usually will have a longer waiting period at 12 months. Some plans will set a maximum annual benefit for these or might have a set discounted price on different models based on the manufacturer.
Conclusion
Don’t try to go at this alone. Call Senior Benefit Services, Inc and we will help you navigate these different types of plans and their benefits so that you get exactly what you need. Call us today at (800)924-4727 or complete our get help now form for dental, vision, and hearing plans.