Employer focus
Dental and vision plans find new consumer appeal
Less than one thin dime. Typically, that’s what dental insurance represents out of the employer’s health care dollar. Six or seven cents to be precise, according to Mark Moksnes, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Securian Dental plans. Nevertheless, in today’s cost-conscious environment, employers – especially large ones – are looking at dental as a way to save money. To keep plan sponsors happy, carriers have responded with more flexible plan designs, two to three-year rate guarantees and cost shifting.
“Annual deductibles are up, and waiting periods of six months for major services such as crowns and bridges are not uncommon,” Moksnes says.
Voluntary dental benefits are also on the increase. “Five years ago employer-sponsored plans tended to be partially voluntary,” explains Moksnes. “In the past year, we’ve had more and more requests for voluntary plans where the employee picks up most or all of the premium and the employer’s role is limited to payroll deduction.”
Employers continue to offer dental plans that offer freedom of choice, but products that steer employees to more efficient, cost-effective dentists are becoming more popular. A movement toward evidence-based dentistry is also on the horizon, just as it is for medical care, Moksnes adds.
Appealing to consumers: new benefits, plan designs
With consumers picking up more or all of the tab for dental benefits, carriers have had to come up with a few sweeteners, uh, carrots, to encourage participants to stay enrolled despite paying more out of pocket. One recent addition to many group plans is coverage for dental implants.
Equally or more important are plan design changes that allow participants to stretch their benefit dollars. For example:
- Some plans allow the annual benefit maximum to increase after the first year of enrollment for each participant, up to a predetermined ceiling, says Don Robinson, manager of ancillary products for Talus Brokerage, a general agency for brokers in Columbus, Ohio. For instance, the maximum might be $1,000 the first year, $1,250 the second and $1,500 the third, up to a $2,000 ceiling.
- Family members may aggregate their dental benefits so they can borrow from one another’s annual maximums. This arrangement works best when one individual doesn’t need to use all of his or her dental benefits in a given year while another family member requires coverage above the maximum.
- Other dental plans provide carry-over provisions, similar to those found in flexible spending accounts, says Louie Cason, president of The Cason Group, Inc., a broker’s broker in Columbia, South Carolina. Participants who haven’t used all of their benefits in a year are able to transfer the balance to the following year.
- To encourage enrollees to take care of their oral health and perhaps stave off more expensive procedures in the future, many plans offer preventive services – such as routine cleanings and x-rays – at 100 percent, not subject to the deductible.
- Moksnes also can forsee a time when pregnant women may qualify for a periodontal disease screening in addition to two routine cleanings a year. Recent studies show a correlation between maternal periodontal disease and babies with low birth weights, he explains.
Service still matters
“On the whole, employees tend to use their dental benefits with greater frequency than their medical insurance,” says Cason. For that reason, employees must understand their dental plan. It has to be simple and easy to communicate.
Moksnes agrees. Employers also want a carrier with a solid service record, including prompt turnaround on claims. “The last thing any employer wants is headaches from their dental plan,” he says. He advises employers to be wary of carriers that offer a substantial discount from what the group is currently paying. The “loss leader” approach may mean less service or higher rates down the road.
Access to care is another critical factor. Despite the emphasis on saving money, PPO dental plans tend to be more popular with employers than dental HMOs, says Robinson. Though HMOs are less expensive, they provide no coverage if participants go outside the network. PPO plans, on the other hand, offer coverage in- or out-of-network.
A similar vision
When it comes to vision plans, the trends are similar to dental: voluntary, employee-paid benefits are up; so are copays. Robinson believes the increased interest in this benefit is due to an aging, computer-oriented workforce.
Another contributing factor: benefits benchmarking. Employers such as Securian Financial Group make it a practice to compare their companies’ benefits packages to those of area employers with whom they compete for talent. “The majority of companies in our area offer vision,” says Lisa B. Phillips, Securian’s employee benefits manager.
When Securian introduced vision as a freestanding voluntary benefit this year, 26 percent of its 2,500 employees enrolled along with 10 percent of the company’s retirees. Participants pay the full premium.
Resources
Securian Dental plans provide a variety of voluntary and employer-paid dental options.
Securian Dental plans are underwritten by Securian Life Insurance Company, 400 Robert Street North, St. Paul MN 55101, and administered by DeCare Dental Health International, LLC. In California, Securian Dental plans are underwritten by Securian Life Insurance Company, offered through DeCare Dental Insurance Services, LLC, and administered by DDHI Administrators, LLC. Securian Dental plans are offered under policy form series 03-30612 or a state variation thereof.
