Dental Insurance- A BOON !!!

Human body is one of the most precious and complex systems on the planet Earth. Hence, it requires our attention towards its well being.

In developing countries, like India, dental health insurance is a highly underrated subject and the main reason being unawareness towards the good oral hygiene.

WHY THE UNAWARENESS??

People ignore their dental health because they think it's not fatal and that until and unless they suffer from pain they don't need to see the dentist. 

Secondly, the fear they have of visiting the dentist. The third and the most important reason being the high COST FACTOR of the dental treatment. Here the dental insurance comes into the seen-

PRIVATE THIRD PARTY PREPAYMENT PLANS

Payment for services by some agency rather than directly by the beneficiary of thos services. The term " third party" refers to an insurance company.

Insurance principles and dental care-

• Be precisely definable.
• Be of sufficient magnitude that if it occurs, it constitutes a major loss.
•  Be infrequent.
• Be of an unwanted nature.
• Be beyond the control of individual.

Different types of payments offered by the insurer are-

1. Deductible: Amount that the patient must pay towards the cost of treatment before the benefits of the program go into effect.

2. Co-insurance: The patient pays a percentage of total cost of treatment and the other percentage is paid by the company.

3. Group insurance: Illness experienced is predictable in a group and this insurance if offered only in groups.

BENEFITS OF INSURANCE -

• Cost effective: A person can easily afford a dental treatment on the basis of dental insurance.
• Maintenance of oral hygiene: Person becomes less reluctant to the treatment when he is insured about the treatment.

Government organisations providing dental insurance in India-

1. ESI scheme ( Employment State Insurance scheme ) : When the employees earn less than Rs21,000 per month and Rs. 25,000 in the case of a person with disability come under this scheme. The worker contributes 1.75% of their salary while the employer contributes 4.75% towards the scheme.

2. The Indian Army: It provides dental insurance to its employees under Army Dental Organisation.

3. The Indian Railways

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE COMPANIES

Characteristics- 

• They can be more selective about the group to which it chooses to offer insurance.
• They claim no obligation towards dental health of the community.
• They can arrange an indemnity program that provides specific cash payment reimbursement for specified covered services.
• They organise their levels of reimbursement differently.
• They do not conduct fee audits and post treatment dental examinations.

Commercial companies in India like-

• Aditya Birla Activ Health Plan
• Bajaj Allianz Health Care Supreme Plan 
• Bharti AXA Health Advant Edge Plan etc.

have now started to incorporate dental insurance in ' Health Insurance' schemes but still with a limited cover range.