Delta Dental

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@KennethB935316 wrote:

Why is purchasing dental insurance directly from Delta Dental cheaper than buying it through AARP?  I thought AARP was supposed to help seniors not penalize them.

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I'm not certain if AARP is penalizing seniors and charging usurious rates for insurance. Some investigative reporter might be able to dig up the dirt on that. Or maybe some hard questions presented directly to the AARP.

In any case, your question piqued my interest and I did some research on this insurance. I wanted to compare "apples to apples", or at least as much as I could...so that any differences would stand out.

I went to the sites for the AARP plan from Delta and to the regular Delta Dental site. There were multiple plans available so I picked one from each site that seemed to be mostly comparable, and these were the "premium" plans. I entered data for my own zip code (others may vary) and age.

Basically, these were:

     (1)   AARP Delta Insurance Plan PPO Plan A ... $63.93 per month

     (2)   Delta Dental PPO Individual - Premium Plan ... $48.79 per month

Thus the AARP plan is around Fifteen Bucks more per month ... around 30 % higher!

But let's look at the details and compare the two plans. This table shows the major details of the plans from the websites. Mostly the two plans have comparable specific benefits but not always (for example, AARP plan does not provide orthodontics, the Delta plan doesn't provide veneers). Note that I only transcribed the main features of the plans as shown on their websites, the "fine print" may cover more detail.

From the table it's apparent that the AARP plan more services "immediately" (noted as "immed." in my table). On the other hand some such services, such as tooth removal is covered earlier with the AARP plan (immediately versus 6 month wait) but you must pay more money: 50% of fee versus 20%.

It seems to me that the AARP plan is comparable overall to the Delta plan. A number of benefits are offered sooner with the AARP plan, so this would be expected to cost more. And the AARP plan picks up more for some services. On the whole I think the added benefits/features of the AARP plan are probably justified when compared to the Delta plan. Thus I don't feel that AARP is "ripping us off".

Someone probably could save some dough by going with the Delta plan and living within its longer waiting periods (I imagine that these don't matter after the first year on the plan).

On the other hand, to pay around $600 to $730 a year just to be able to get a maximum return of the $1500 maximum benefit does not seem like a bargain to me. I myself use a plan recommended by my dentist which provides for lower professional fees but I am always paying "something". Should the annual charges exceed $1500 I would be ahead (a place I am not currently at). But in any case the cost is much less than that for "insurance".

I'm new here but have been looking for a new dental plan once I go off my retirement plan (retired in 2019) and start Medicare in early 2022. I live in Illiinois. Of all the companies offering dental coverage, only Delta Dental had a plan with annual maximum of $2500, which matches my employment and retirement plan (the employer's group plan seemed pretty generous).

The quoted monthly premium was ~$45 ($540 annual). With a previous history of continuous dental coverage, Delta Dental would wave any waiting periods, so everything would kick in immediately. My present dentist provided me with the out-of-pocket costs of procedures so that I could compare the different between have insurance and paying cash.

For routine preventative work twice a year, cost having Delta Dental would be $540. Cash approach would be $311. So one would save $229 paying cash.

But as I have multiple teeth with fillings and a recent crown last year, I decided to examine that kind of scenario. Cost with Delta Delta would be $540 (annual premium) plus $75 deductible plus $750 (50% of $1500, table of allowance for crown procedures) = $1365. Cash approach would be $1977 for the single crown procedures. So Delta Dental would save $612. If one added in the preventative care, $311, that would have been $2288 cash or a savings of $923 by having Delta Dental insurance with the high annual maximum benefit. It would take 4 years of simple preventative care to break even by paying cash.

So the decision would require an estimation of risk. Should one anticipate additional crown procedures or root canal or fillings or dentures or implants? Is it worth the risks to obtain insurance or pay cash? In many ways, this would be similar to the decisions about auto or medical insurance.

Sadly, I have found this to be the case with every single thing which they claim to be discounted - life insurance, auto rentals, Consumer Cellular, and on and on. For Consumer Cellular, I save less than $2/month. If they’d spend less on all the environmentally unfriendly paper garbage they send me touting these discounts, perhaps they could get serious about actually saving us seniors some money. 

There are many organizations who look for programs that their members can use. If they do their job  well the program will perform well, and be cheaper than what you would pay if you paid the provider direct. Discounts in dental services is quite common now. There are programs which are just discount. The sponsor of the program will usually help a member if they have problems. They work closely as an employer plan does which can be insurance or discount or both.

I have a program from my employer which is discount and insured. If you use an in network dentist you the discount on top of the insurance. The discount is 20%. I pay $10.00 per month. I have saved every year. The dental exams and teeth cleaning 2 times per year are free. While traveling I had to see a Dentist and that was fully covered. You can save money with the right program.

   I have Delta Dental thru AARP and had it for a few years. This hasn't been updated with coverage for a long time. The way Dentists have been charging nowdays, your out of pocket cost keep going up and the coverage amount per year stays the same. I would be willing to pay more for at least 2500 or 3000 coverage.