| Oral care professionals look to marketing as dental appointment
Friday, August 14 Although dental insurance can be inexpensive, those who provide care under these types of plans are finding that customers aren't taking the time for either routine cleanings or more expensive treatments that could prevent future health problems.Dentist Ken Peters in suburban Denver has found that roughly double the number of his patients have decided to forego more costly procedures since the middle of last year than the same period in 2007, a trend that is similar to the experience of more than half the dentists survyed by the American Dental Association in July, according to the Wall Street Journal."They figure they can't afford it so they wait," Dr. Peters told the newspaper. "They'd rather feed their family than spend the money on a crown."He and others have considered marketing to this group, using the fact that dental insurance is more inexpensive than other health care costs, and can provide testing that could provide patients with the ability to foresee long-term chronic conditions.Customers looking to reduce rates on dental insurance and other coverage aren't convinced that government efforts like Democrat bills will do much to limit their out-of-pocket expenses, looking at other policy changes to drive down costs.Medical and dental malpractice insurance reforms would be the option chosen by roughly half of Americans to reduce expenses and improve health care, according to a telephone survey conducted by M4 Strategies.
Survive the Recession with a Smile; Despite Cuts in Dental
As companies cut budgets and the unemployed try to lower their expenses, budget trimmers are often reared toward items like dental insurance and preventive dental care. In recent months, this policy has even been enacted at the state level, as several state-funded dental benefits programs for low-income and disabled adults have either gotten the ax or a last-minute reprieve from the chopping board. And with an unemployment rate of 9.5%, the highest in 25 years, many Americans are facing even bigger issues than dropped employer-paid dental insurance plans; they're facing dropped wages altogether. Faced with no job and no access to either employer-paid dental benefits or state-funded dental benefits, many are left searching for a way to alleviate the burden of paying for dental health care out-of-pocket.
Will Health Reform Include Dental Insurance Coverage?
If the American Dental Association gets its way, the new health insurance reform plan will include dental care. If such an option were to be added to the final bill, it has the potential to cover 108 million Americans who have no dental insurance, approximately 2.5 times the number who have no health insurance. As the proposed Health Insurance Exchange stands now, the proposed public option in one House bill would extend dental care coverage to children younger than 21 years of age, while adults could get coverage under a public plan that would cost more. Currently 26 million children do not have dental insurance. Information about this proposal can be found in HR3200 on pages and 28 and 86-87. One reason the addition of dental coverage to health insurance reform seems unlikely is that it has never been a part of Medicare and it is poorly funded in Medicaid, which provides dental care to underprivileged children.
Saskatchewan regulator seeks comment on selling of incidental
Saskatchewan's insurance regulator is proposing to allow the General and Life Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan to issue restricted licenses, authorizing licensees and/or their employees to act as agents to sell particular insurance products specified in the license.The restricted licenses would be available to "deposit-taking institutions" such as chartered banks, credit unions and trust companies.Restricted licenses would also be made available to eligible transportation companies, financing corporations, mortgage brokers and the owners of travel agencies, customs brokerages and freight forwarding businesses. Auto, marine, recreational, farm implement and construction equipment dealerships would also be eligible for the restricted licenses.Full details of the restricted licensing proposal are available at http://www.sfsc.gov.sk.ca/financial/ISIconsultation.shtmlThe proposal details a number of conditions that must be met for the restricted licensee to sell incidental insurance products.
Kucinich Predicts Retreat On Health Care Reform
Much of the controversy surrounding health care reform has swirled around the so-called public option - a government insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. Congressman Kucinich wants the public plan to be the ONLY option; in other words, a single payer government system for everyone. Kucinich has for years been pushing such a plan. He says the problem with the U.S. system is the layer of bureaucracy imposed by insurance companies. Cut the private health insurers out of the mix, he says, and affordable, universal coverage is within easy reach. Kucinich: "One out of every three dollar goes to the activities of the for-profit system. They cream it right off the top for corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, the cost of paperwork. If you took that 800 billion dollars a year, which is what that represents, and put it into care for people you'd have enough to cover everyone, doctor of choice, vision care, dental health, mental health care, long term care, prescription drugs - we'd all be covered." Kucinich says anything less amounts to just a subsidy to the insurance industry. He's a co-sponsor of House Resolution 676, introduced early this year by Michigan democrat John Conyers. It's a bill that would extend medicare, the single payer government insurance plan for seniors, to all Americans. So far only 85 house members have signed onto the single payer bill, and for now it looks to have little chance of gaining much traction. But Kucinich thinks the outlook this year for ANY reform looks bleak. Kucinich: "I don't think there will be a bill brought to the president's desk. I think that it's been mishandled and that we need to go back to the American people, and I'm certainly ready with John Conyers and 83 other members of Congress to push for our single payer proposal. But we have to show people why it's important. We need to listen to them first about their tale of woe." Bill Rice, 90.3 .
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