CA Dental Insurance – Combining Two Dental Plans.
Question: I want to combine two dental plans for the same dental services. I have an PPO dental insurance plan that I get though my job. It has a 1500 year max limit and for majors only covers out 50%. I was shopping dental insurance and notice that my dentist is listed on this HMO plan I saw. It looked really good because the crown I need is only $380.00 and my dentist charges $900.00 for the crown. With my current insurance plan that would leave me with $450.00 but if the dentist uses the HMO plan at $380.00 and bills that off to my current policy then I would only have to pay $190.00 making it well worth the cost paying for the HMO insurance plan he takes. Can I do this ?
Reply: Generally no. Dentist typically will not combine an HMO with a PPO as under HMO they are lowering their cost to the HMO pricing. Where with a PPO they charge their cost the the PPO plan pays accordly to it’s policy terms but the dentist is not having to reduce their cost.
However, I would suggest calling your dental provider and confirm this. Not all dental offices are the same, and all he/she can say is no. If the don’t you may still want to pick up the HMO so you can still clearly save money on the crown cost just by using the HMO plan