Ask HN: What do you use for Dental Insurance?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=831468

by mannylee1 • 17 years ago

2 9 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am a contractor for a major company. And with that am offered no dental insurance. What do you guys use as cheap && reliable && quality dental insurance.

SwellJoe3• 17 years ago

My bank account. Dental care simply isn't expensive enough for me to consider it something I would insure for. Insurance, to me, is for catastrophic events (and medical care, because the US health care system is so screwed up that even day-to-day care is vastly overpriced). Dental care can never cost more than a few thousand dollars in a given year, even in the event of horrible problems...and mostly it's less than a couple hundred each year.

mannylee13• 17 years ago

It seems pretty crazy to use your 'bank account' alone, when there are dental plans that cover up to 50% of costs for as little as $100 per year. I am just trying to figure out which one of those is the best option. If anyone here has had a good experience with one of them, please let me/us know.

SwellJoe3• 17 years ago

Crazy? Really? You think it's crazy to not use insurance for something I consider a trivial expense? I also don't insure for optometry care.

That $100 per year is constant. My dental care is usually less than that, even without discounts, and even when it's not, I can comfortably afford to pay for it out of pocket.

I think our culture of insuring for everything vaguely health related is a big part of the problem with our health system, as it takes the decisions out of the hands of the people best able to make them and puts them into the hands of bureaucrats. I'm certainly not going to contribute to breaking dental care by insuring for it, as well.

Anyway, I insure against serious problems, not against normal care. If I could do the same with health care, I would. I shouldn't need to go through my insurance company just to go in for a checkup. It's stupid that it's the way things are done...so I certainly don't want to have the same hassle with dental care (or optometry, or veterinary care for my dog, etc.).

ScottWhigham2• 17 years ago

My dad told me about "Careington" the other day and says that it saves him money: http://www1.careington.com/index.aspx

Ask HN: What do you use for Dental Insurance?

Related Stories