what do you guys do for vision and dental?

[ellenrr]

since I switched from medicare advantage to medicare supplement, now I realize I have no vision or dental coverage.
ARG.
are there any plans for vision and dental?

my med.adv. had that coverage, but it had so many other drawbacks.

thanks.

[SheilaT]

1. Uh oh.

Perhaps the advantage plan you had was so pricy that you can now spend those copays and such on dental and vision.

If there's a dental school in your area that's a good place to look for dental treatment.

Otherwise, perhaps you need to revisit the advantage plans available to you. With luck, there's one that's better than the old one and will now include dental and vision. I know mine does.

[locks]

2. Med Adv

was a huge bonus for insurance companies but cost far more to taxpayers and seniors than it covered. Nevertheless it helped many of us, especially with RX drugs. Medicare (and in most states Medicaid) does not cover glasses or exams (except after eye surgery or with severe eye diseases), dental, or hearing aids, services which are absolutely necessary to have any kind of decent life.
Many seniors simply live without teeth or dentures, in pain and unable to chew. A few private plans cover "dental health", meaning cleaning, Xrays, and checkups at a high cost. If you need extractions, crowns, implants, root canals they rarely cover any of the cost. In the case of hearing aids I have not heard of any affordable plans though loss of hearing leaves seniors isolated and in danger.
There are a few states where Medicaid covers some of these services but Repugs are trying to cut them out (as in N.Carolina.)
Some of us go to Canada or Mexico when we can. Dental care in Mexico is good and costs about 25% of US care.
If you have any good HMOs in your state your out of pocket fees will be less than on Medicare Supplement and they generally cover some preventive care.

[ellenrr]

3. yes, I never understood why when they got medicare -

which I understand was a huge battle, and a great thing, but they should have included dental and vision-
otherwise you cannot have any quality of life.

[murphyj87]

6. For those of us in Canada ...

All provinces pay 80% of prescription drugs for those aged 65 and over, and also several provinces pay 80% of prescription drugs for those under age 65 who don`t have company plans (also our prescription drugs cost between 15% and 30% what yours do. ( My prescriptions cost $109 here - the province pays $87.20 and I pay $21.80 - while when out of interest I checked with Walgreen`s in the US, my prescriptions would cost $825 a month there).

While vision and dental are not covered, my company pension plus Canada Pension (like Social Security) plus Old Age Pension (which you don`t have) is greater than the average wage earner makes in the US, and my vision and dental costs are tax deductible, so I get most of it back in the form of tax refunds and sales tax rebates when I file my taxes.

My health care is the same as that of any Canadian of any age, universal single payer health care that puts your denied and rationed insurance run health care to shame.

[ancient_nomad]

4. We have been using....

a discount plan called CAREINGTON....it costs $6.95 a month for one person....you save 20 to 60% on dental care.

Here is the link if you want to check it out:
http://careington1.com/

You chose a dentist who belongs to the plan, and your charges are reduced accordingly. For example we paid $460 for a crown which was normally $895, a considerable savings when you have no coverage.

I hope this is of help.

[Paper Roses]

12. I just posted abouy my dental plan and I am pleased with it.

I paid for the whole year in advance and used it right away. $109.00 for the year. My discounts were large.

[trof]

5. Pay through the nose.

[blackcrow]

7. dental insurance not worth it

I have never seen a dental insurance plan that was worth the money.

Medicare and Medigap cover my visits to the ophthalmologist except for the glasses prescription, which is $35. I only have the prescription done every couple of years. You may find that Medicare covers your visits too, since so many of us have one eye condition or another.

If you itemize your taxes, glasses and prescriptions and dental bills can be included in the medical section of Sched. A. Even mileage to the dentist or doctor can be claimed there; I'm astonished that for me that added up to a tidy sum annually. The instructions tell you how many cents a mile to claim for that year.

[SheilaT]

8. To add on.

My Advantage plan includes some dental (which I'm not using) and vision. I believe it will pay the entirety of my yearly eye exam. Since I had cataract surgery three years ago I don't need prescription glasses or contacts, which saves me a bundle of money.

Dental is tricky, but vision coverage I think is fairly common. But a lot depends on just which supplemental or Advantage plan you have.

[left-of-center2012]

9. My BC/BS covers (medical) vision

I have the Blue Cross/Blue Shield advantage here in New Mexico and they cover my eye doctor for Glaucoma and cataracts.
But I recently needed new eyeglasses and I had to pay for that after getting a prescription from my BC/BS eye doctor.

[DrDan]

10. I have separate policies for each of those - VSP vision and Renaissance dental

first year they were not covered in my medical package . . . but so far so good with these two choices.

[Paper Roses]

11. It took me about 6 months before I could afford a new dentist.

My prior one retired and I could not afford a new one. MY old dentist gave me a discount and I needed little other than cleanings.

I recently found a dentist in my town who accepts one of the dental plans. This is not insurance, it is discount plan. The discounts are large and joining is very reasonable, $109.00 a year.
The first month I joined, I broke 2 molars, used the plan right away and it saved me a bundle of money. It is issued through Aetna, the plan is called Aetna Dental Access, administrated by Careington. I am very pleased. If you go to their web suite, (www.careington.com), there should be a list of participating dentists near you along with various options and plans.

The dentist I chose had 5 star reviews and has a lot of patients enrolled in this plan.

[csziggy]

13. VSP sells their vision coverage direct

At http://vspdirect.com/ Davis Vision, the other large vision insurance carrier also has a direct purchase plan.

I bought the dental plan for my husband and me through eHealth (http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/?allid=eHe29411) since it was the easiest way to locate a plan that fit what my dentist recommended. eHealth also offers vision plans but I had already signed up for VSP when I found their site.

I was surprised that our vision and dental coverage cost about the same as we had been paying through my husband's employer. I'd always assumed we were getting a discount through their group policies. If I'd known buying direct cost about the same when they switched to Davis Vision, I would have opted out of their vision policy and bought VSP directly since Davis didn't cover the eye doctors we had been using for years.

Both VSP Direct and eHealth let you check providers and coverage on their sites, so that is a major improvement over the coverage through the employer which doesn't let you know until you are already signed up for the next year.

[Lil Missy]

14. I have one from Physicians Mutual

It runs me $31 a month, but major work like crowns and bridges are not covered until it's been in force for a year and is not pre-existing. It pays preventive care right away, and some things after 3 months.

I had to have a bad tooth pulled after I had only had the policy for 6 weeks. I waited until it had been in force for a year and they paid the bridge. The plan pays about half the cost of dental procedures. They provide a schedule of procedures that each pay a flat amount regardless of what you are charged.

[SheilaT]

15. Update on my vision plan.

Eye exam earlier this month. I had to pay the cost of dilation ($75) out of pocket. Yikes. It was covered when I was working. Then yesterday I got a letter from my eye doctor saying I owe another $30 on the exam. I'm not very happy about this, although I can afford it.

added on edit: To clarify the exact charges, the charge for the eye exam was $151.25, of which my Advantage policy paid $52.00. There is a payment adjustment of $69.25, which is why I now owe $30.00.

[napi21]

16. For the dentist, we just pay the bill. For vision, AARP membership gets you

a pretty big discount on an eye exam. I think we paid $25.00. They also provide a 20% discount on glasses, but I don't do that. I ask for my prescription and go to one of the online sites to have it filled. There are several sites available, and they all differ in price. I just check them all unti I find the frames I like and order from there. An even cheaper way is to use your old frames and just have them put the new prescription lenses in them. I've paid anywhere from $12.00 to $35.00 including shipping. AT those prices, it's not worth paying for vision insurance.

BTW, I've been buing my glasses this way for about 5 years and I've never been disappointed.

[ellenrr]

17. thanks for the info. I had to get AARP membership in order to enroll

in AARP-UHC supplementary insurance,
then I dropped it, bec. I hate AARP for betraying the seniors.

Medicare gives me a free eye exam, I think one free pair of classes.

[napi21]

18. Check on that! As far as I know, they do not! nt