Medical Tourism: Why is dental tourism or dental travel attractive for the uninsured

Dental tourism is a subset of medical tourism. Dental tourism is also known as tooth tourism and dental travel. In the United States, the main reason tourists seek dental care abroad is the cost advantage care providers abroad offers.

In Canada and in Europe, countries with social medicine, people have to be on wait-lists to be approved for extensive dental procedures such as dental implants, crowns, bridges and prosthetics.

In the United States, those who have just received approval for dental insurance may have to wait up to six months to get dental fillings done, and up to a year to get approval for bridge work and other more extensive dental work such as oral surgery, root canal, periodontal work, or dental implants. Even with the wait time requirement, the cost would still require a co-payment or co-pay where the dental insurance company will pay only a portion of the entire dental expense and the insured pays the rest. The amount of co-pay also depends on the insured's chosen deductible and monthly premium plan.

Going to other countries to receive this care from highly trained care providers for the fraction of the cost makes dental tourism an attractive option for the uninsured or for those whose insurance plans do not cover their full dental expenses. Additionally, a trip to an exotic paradise is a boost to anyone's morale.

CNN Truth Squad: Will dental insurance be offered under the proposed Health Insurance Exchange?

The Statement: Mike, from Bristol, Connecticut, told CNN that "I've heard dental service will not be covered under the Health Insurance Exchange. Seems like we have to wait for a tooth to become life-threatening before it is considered health care. Why is my mouth not considered part of my health?"

The Facts: Under the administration's health-care overhaul, people can keep their own health insurance. Under a proposed Health Insurance Exchange, uninsured people can pick from private and public options for health care, and the proposed public option in one House bill offers dental care.

The proposed "basic" public plan would cover dental/oral health for "children under 21 years of age." Adults could get coverage under another "premium-plus" public plan that would cost more.

These are spelled out in H.R. 3200 — America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 — on pages 28 and 86-87.

There are doubts among health-care policy experts that dental care will see the light of day in the public plan.

Professor Debra Street, an expert in health-care policy at State University of New York-Buffalo, is among those who doubt dental coverage will end up in the final public option if such an option is in the final bill hammered out by lawmakers.

That's because of the track record with other federal health-care programs. Dental coverage hasn't been available in Medicare and it hasn't been well-funded in Medicaid, where coverage differs state by state, Street said.

The details of the plan are still undetermined as lawmakers work to shape the legislation.

The Verdict: True but incomplete. The basic public plan in the House would only cover dental care for children under 21, but an adult could pay extra for the coverage.

What about Eye and Dental Insurance?

I mean real insurance---not a list of shysters on a list who will clean them free and find problems. (only 3-4 hundred dollars per year insurance).

I know several people who have spent 30-40,000 dollars in a year for implants, gum disease, caps, bridges, etc. All out of pocket.

Ever notice that rich people or high wage earners have prettier teeth than the 50% of us who make under 50,000 per year?

It is also now known that bad teeth cause about as much health problems as does lack of many other maintenance items.

Many also suffer with their eyes for cataracts, macular holes, and 20 year old glasses due to no insurance.

It is time.

Dental insurance plans could improve reform efforts

The relatively low cost of dental insurance plans compared to other coverage options as well as the relationship between oral health and chronic conditions has led some advocates to call for more efforts to include dental care into health care reform legislation under discussion in Congress.

Regular visits to a dentist could give consumers the chance for screenings that would detect periodontal disease linked to cardiovascular conditions and cancer, but patients may not be aware of the strong links between periodontal symptoms and their future health, according to an editorial in the Wichita Eagle.

Some health care coverage options now focus on preventive testing, but dental insurance plans can provide affordable access to providers who have historically focused on wellness and stopping diseases before they can progress, noted the editorial.

Workers place a large value on dental insurance for this reason, but it can also benefit employers by giving them an inexpensive way to reduce costly future complications in employees, according to the Fort Worth Business-Press.

Seventy-five percent of employees found offering access to dental care "extremely important" or "very important" in a recent survey, and the news provider notes that companies who may not be able to cover some of the costs could institute a voluntary benefit program. It offers rates comparable to other group dental insurance plans, but the costs are born by workers.

Reform efforts might also aid rural populations, a demographic that has received media attention for its low percentage of doctors. Some volunteers in Appalachia are finding that dentistry options could also benefit from increased federal or state funding.

In Wise, Virginia, hundreds of people flock to the county fairgrounds to receive basic preventive care, including dental checkups that represent the first time many have seen a light in their mouth since Regional Area Medical expedition volunteers visited the year before, reported National Public Radio.

Although premiums for some dental insurance programs are one-tenth the cost of other health coverage plans, the RAM health care providers noted that just one percent of the attendees had some form of dental or vision insurance, according to the radio network.

Life Insurance And Dental Insurance - Necessity And Facts

What life Insurance is?

Basically, a life insurance policy, is an agreement between the insurance company, the insured person, and the beneficiary. The insured, pays a certain pre-defined amount to the insurance company. And in the case of death of the insured, the company pays the benefit to the beneficiary.

2. Types Of Insurance

There are two basic types of Life Insurance. They are term life insurance, and permanent life insurance. Term life, as the name suggests, is a temporary agreement, for a pre-defined number of years, after which, the agreement expires. Various lengths of term life can be purchased, however, the most common ones are between 10 and 20 years. However, terms as long as 30 years, or as short as 1 year are also available.
In the case of Permanent Life, the policy covers the insured till the date of their death, or till the time the agreement ‘matures’, which in most cases, is at age 100. There are different types of Permanent Insurance, which include whole life, universal life, etc. There are many different reasons for choosing either of these, so professional advice is always recommended.

3. How much will you get?

In most cases, the amount you get, is dependent on the reason you purchase it. And this, in most cases, is to replace the income in the case of death. While most professionals would recommend 10-12 times your annual income, this can vary, and approximately should be good enough to provide for at least 20 years of safe income. However, inflation, final expenses, etc are not considered in this, so, you should always let a professional do the calculation before you decide any amount.

4. Benefits of life insurance

Although, the benefits of life insurance differ from policy to policy, most of the policies have some of the benefits in common. The most effective benefit, is that the death benefit is, in most cases, excluded from any income tax deductions. Thus, a 500,000 dollar policy will transfer
the whole 500,000 dollars to the beneficiary, with no deductions whatsoever. This, is also effective for passing wealth from one generation to another.

Dental Insurance

Some people don’t take dental insurance as a reason for not going to the dentist. Others think that it is not a good reason for the dent it makes on their wallet every month. Few are content with their teeth and think it nonsensical to
spend money every month on something that is perfectly alright right now. These are few of the reasons why people avoid dental insurance or not think of it until the last minute when getting health insurance. But you have to understand this one thing-dental insurance is very important due to the various benefits it has to offer.

Dentistry is one field where even the simple procedure of tooth extraction can cost as much as few hundreds of dollars PER TOOTH!!!Therefore, people relate dental processes or work with huge never-ending bills. But what they don’t think of is that the small dent that dental insurance will make on their wallets every month is nothing as compared to the huge dent it will make getting a root canal implant or even getting your wisdom teeth removed on your wallet. Moreover, it also helps you in the finance department.

What’ll you do if you have to immediately get a tooth removed or are in need of a dental implant? If you have dental insurance in this situation it’ll help cover up atleast part of it, if not the entire cost.
Many people make do with the thought that dental care ends at flossing and brushing well. But actually, this is not true.

It is not a very well known fact but is proven that dental diseases have a direct link with other diseases. Dental diseases are common to humans, even young, healthy adults and they can easily affect the rest of the body in various ways. For example, some dental diseases are known to lead to other non-dental yet very serious health problems rather diseases like diabetes and even kidney infections. Therefore, in this case dental insurance is very helpful as it even covers costs of regular dental checkups, that help check the growth of diseases, if any identified. This step of uncovering diseases and preventing them from becoming bad to worse is very important. Dental insurance encourages care keeping in mind the prevention of dental diseases, which further leads to decrease in final costs involved in dental care and prevention of diseases.

While you are considering health insurance, you should keep dental insurance in mind as it is an integral part. Few of the benefits of dental insurance have been given above. It is advised you should get dental insurance. Even though it seems like a gimmick for getting your money but in reality it is for your own good.