Dentistry and the Economy: Is Your Family Being Affected
What is the scariest thing at Dr. Kate Pierces dental office? Parents losing jobs. A common occurrence and every doctors office across the country.
At Greensboro Center for Pediatric Dentistry, she sees more moms and dads paying out of pocket because they’ve lost insurance. Tens of thousnds of previously employed mothers and fathers are currently without dental insurance as well as health insurance due to the current economic condition. Many families just can not afford the dental part of COBRA, continuing insurance coverage after losing a job.
They are having to look at their monthly budget to determine if they can come to the dentist or not, said Dr. Pierce.
Her office manager counts 90 families in the last three months who have turned to state assistance for their house hold needs.
Then there is shrinking insurance coverage for families that are being affected by loss of insurance benefits due to job loss of one parent or another. For Dr. Pierces patients and others, average coverage maximums have dropped about $500 dollars in the past two years. This in no way keeps pace with the ever increasing costs of dental proceedures.
Most average coverage maximums hover at $1,000. And that can go fast. We have kids that may need 10, 12 or 14 teeth fixed at a time, said Dr. Pierce. Those families, they will reach their policys maximum coverage very quickly.
Dr. Pierce says this makes some families delay visits to her office, and postpone recommended treatments like receiving fluoride.
The thing that is frustrating for us as clinicians is that when we see a condition that needs to have preventive dentistry treatment and then the insurance company is saying we are not gonna pay for it.
About This Article
This article was provided by Elan Dental Arts. A Prior Lake Minnesota Dentist, Elan Dental Arts is a family friendly dentist who is concerned about your dental health. Don’t let a lack of dental insurance prevent you and your family from receiving the dental care you need.