Best Dental Insurance for Veterans
As a veteran, you deserve the best dental plan that works hard to give you the benefits you need to keep your oral health strong and your costs low.
With the various dental plans offered to veterans, you may be wondering which plan is best for you. When shopping dental insurance, you may be looking for:
- Eligibility for VA based plans
- Affordable monthly premiums
- Dental plans with no waiting period for immediate coverage on dental work
- A large network that spreads across the country
- Comprehensive coverage for family dental needs
There are two main ways veterans can get dental coverage through the VA: VA Outpatient Dental Program and VADIP (VA Dental Insurance Program).
And if you don’t qualify for VA dental benefits, no worries! Dental plans on the individual market can be purchased any time of year and can even provide you with better dental plan options.
You can also look for discounts from dentist offices and community dental health programs offering reduced rates or even free dental care for veterans.
VA Outpatient Dental Program
If you qualify to receive VA outpatient dental care, your benefits are determined by a variety of factors including military service history, current health and living situation. You may be eligible to get all your dental care needs taken care of, or only some dental services covered.
Depending on the benefits class you fall under will determine how much coverage you’ll receive. A few of these benefit classes are:
- A former prisoner of war
- You have one or more service-connected disabilities rated 100% disabling
- You have a service-connected dental disability or condition
Depending on the coverage, you may not receive everything you want from your outpatient benefits. One option is to purchase a VADIP dental plan at a discounted rate.
VADIP
Some veterans enrolled in VA health care might be eligible for free dental care, but many do not qualify. If you don’t qualify, VADIP offers discounted private dental insurance plans for veterans. You’ll have eligibility for VADIP if one of the following is true:
- You’re enrolled in VA health care
- Be a current or surviving spouse or dependent child of a veteran that’s enrolled in the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the VA (CHAMPVA)
With VADIP dental plans, you’ll pay the full insurance premium for each individual on your plan and any required copays. The plans will cover many common dental procedures including:
- Diagnostic
- Preventive
- Restorative (like root canals and crowns)
- Dental surgery
- Emergency dental care
If you’re unhappy with your VADIP plan and looking for more coverage, you can shop for an additional dental plan on the individual market to boost your benefits.
Private dental insurance for veterans
Unlike health insurance, dental is fairly simple to purchase. You can buy any time of year, your zip code determines your monthly premium cost, and some dental insurance plans—like Spirit Dental—allow you to begin your dental benefits as early as the next-day.
What should you look for in a dental plan?
Dental insurance with no waiting period
Waiting periods in dental insurance are the amount of time you must wait until your benefits can begin. For example, if you purchase a plan today, you may see a waiting period of 6 months for basic services (simple procedures) and a 12 month wait for major service (complex procedures).
With dental insurance through Spirit Dental, all plans offer no waiting periods on all dental services. This gives you the best opportunity to get what you need taken care of worry free with savings.
Dental networks provide savings & convenience for veterans
When you’re shopping for a dental plan, you’ll want to check to see if your dentist participates in the insurance plan’s network. A network is a group of dentists that have agreed to lower costs with the insurance plan.
If you find your dentist is not in-network, PPO dental plans like Spirit will still cover some of your costs. If your dentist is in-network or you’re open to seeing a new dentist in-network, you’ll save an average of 32% on dental procedures and services.
As a military family, moving can be frequent. Setting yourself up with a dental plan that has a large network might be beneficial to ensure your coverage isn’t interrupted. Spirit gives its members access to the Ameritas Classic network that is one of the largest in the nation offering more than 130,000 providers.
Dental coverage that matters
It’s essential to understand what your dental needs are and what coverage you’ll likely need to know which dental plan is best for you and your family.
You might be someone that only needs a preventive care plan that offers a lower premium and provides coverage for regular checkups and cleanings and maybe a filling.
Or, you might be someone that needs lots of dental work. If you’re a veteran shopping for full-coverage dental insurance, here’s what to consider from Spirit Dental:
- All plans offer 100% preventive cleanings and checkups
- No waiting periods for all plans and all dental services means you get immediate dental coverage ASAP
- All Spirit plans are PPO meaning you can choose the dentist of your choice—stay in-network and get 25-50% instant savings
- Coinsurance splits the cost with you and averages to around 10-50% coverage with major services and 25-90% coverage with basic services
- Annual maximums are the cap of your dental benefits per benefit year—Spirit plans go up to $5,000 in year three and $3,500 in year one depending on the plan
- $100-lifetime deductible saves you money yearly as you only have to pay it once when your plan begins
Spirit Dental salutes all our veterans
If you’re a veteran that doesn’t qualify for VA dental benefits and are unsure of which plan fits your specific needs, give us a call: (844) 833-8440. We’ll help you compare plans, talk about your options and guide you to the best decision for you.
And if you’re ready to purchase a dental plan that begins with full-coverage benefits starting tomorrow, shop Spirit Dental plans today.
Sources:
https://www.va.gov/health-care/about-va-health-benefits/dental-care/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/about-va-health-benefits/dental-care/dental-insurance/
https://www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/va-dental-insurance-program.html