anyone contract with Delta dental?

[LostDollar]

I have delta dental contract for OK, and just picked it up for KS. Dentists like it. Customers are familiar with it, coming from group plans.

Probably the smallest commission of anything ive ever sold (however it is level for life.) We are talking eight to ten percent. About the same as a PDP.

BUT it does work as intended. Ive never heard of a single issue from a client with delta. Whereas, I have with other carriers....

Delta Dental only does dental insurance. So, they have to do a good job at it, otherwise they are out of business.

Dental insurance is always a challenge. You find someone great coverage, but their dentist is out of network, so it doesn't pay well. Or the dentist is in network, but the premium or deductible is too high, or the waiting period is too long.

Delta often waives the waiting periods if they are had prior coverage.

You also have to get a different Delta contracting for each state, which is inconvenient.

All that being said. I dont write it often.

(Caveat, NOT an agent.)

(And following comments will be a bit vague because I can't remember the dental visit codes or the precise technical names for dental coverage levels 2 and 3 after the preventive level.)

Does BCBSKS allow selling through agents? If they do, sometime when you have a bit of time, consider comparing Delta vs BCBSKS.

IF I was an agent and was going to look at dental plans, I think I would try to offer BCBSKS and UHC.

(and I don't think our UHC networks are "vast" like chazm talks about for FL.)

(And if I was going to consider a third one, I think I would take a careful look at the NCD MetLife plans. With coverage options up to 10K, there may be a good higher coverage/higher premium offering there which one could have for clients.)

The higher cost BCBSKS plan I buy off their website has a very good network. They only offer 1,000 in coverage and their premium may be a bit on the high side for that level of coverage. However they have very good payment amounts, which I suspect accounts for the high network participation. (don't think the same applies to the lower cost senior plan.)

They will both waive Major coverage waiting periods for previous plan Major coverage - but the precise details of the requirements to obtain the waiver are different (and interesting if you are into that kind of thing) between the two carriers.

I am not an agent and don't have access to carrier to agent provided plan details and pricing. Within the information available to me, I found 1 unique characteristic of the BC plan. It puts Root Canals in the coverage level 2 -- with NO WAITING PERIOD. (But remember their exposure is limited with the $1K annual limit.) That was a major factor in my taking BC as a secondary plan when I did.

I think BC put all the dental visit codes in preventive. A thing that griped me about Delta is there is one emergency visit code they put in level 2 (subject to deductible) and limited coverage to 1 visit per year. (Keep in mind I already had UHC as primary coverage.) That one detail of Delta coverage led me to choose BC over delta for additional coverage in a year where I needed several fillings, 2 root canals and 2 crowns. I have never compared dental plan features for coverage needs beyond those.

Nice to see you posting again from time to time.

Regards.
LD

 

[LostDollar]

Delta often waives the waiting periods if they are had prior coverage.

I think their requirement for that was other major coverage (documented by a letter from the other carrier) within 60 days of date for Delta coverage.

As a side, when I have had Delta employer plans, I have found their consumer customer service to be great.

 

[Packerland]

anyone contract with Delta dental?

Yes I have an agency contract with them . If you what contracted sent me a PM.

 

[goillini52]

(Caveat, NOT an agent.)

(And following comments will be a bit vague because I can't remember the dental visit codes or the precise technical names for dental coverage levels 2 and 3 after the preventive level.)

Does BCBSKS allow selling through agents? If they do, sometime when you have a bit of time, consider comparing Delta vs BCBSKS.

IF I was an agent and was going to look at dental plans, I think I would try to offer BCBSKS and UHC.

(and I don't think our UHC networks are "vast" like chazm talks about for FL.)

(And if I was going to consider a third one, I think I would take a careful look at the NCD MetLife plans. With coverage options up to 10K, there may be a good higher coverage/higher premium offering there which one could have for clients.)

The higher cost BCBSKS plan I buy off their website has a very good network. They only offer 1,000 in coverage and their premium may be a bit on the high side for that level of coverage. However they have very good payment amounts, which I suspect accounts for the high network participation. (don't think the same applies to the lower cost senior plan.)

They will both waive Major coverage waiting periods for previous plan Major coverage - but the precise details of the requirements to obtain the waiver are different (and interesting if you are into that kind of thing) between the two carriers.

I am not an agent and don't have access to carrier to agent provided plan details and pricing. Within the information available to me, I found 1 unique characteristic of the BC plan. It puts Root Canals in the coverage level 2 -- with NO WAITING PERIOD. (But remember their exposure is limited with the $1K annual limit.) That was a major factor in my taking BC as a secondary plan when I did.

I think BC put all the dental visit codes in preventive. A thing that griped me about Delta is there is one emergency visit code they put in level 2 (subject to deductible) and limited coverage to 1 visit per year. (Keep in mind I already had UHC as primary coverage.) That one detail of Delta coverage led me to choose BC over delta for additional coverage in a year where I needed several fillings, 2 root canals and 2 crowns. I have never compared dental plan features for coverage needs beyond those.

Nice to see you posting again from time to time.

Regards.
LD

The 3 levels of coverage are Preventative, Basic and Major.

NCD will waive the waiting period if you have group coverage...not if you have a stand a lone plan(that never made sense to me). Also, if the waiting period is waived...NO COMMISIONS.

 

[LostDollar]

The 3 levels of coverage are Preventative, Basic and Major.

NCD will waive the waiting period if you have group coverage...not if you have a stand a lone plan(that never made sense to me). Also, if the waiting period is waived...NO COMMISIONS.

Thanks.

That's very odd on the waiver.

BCBSKS and Delta Dental KS had no problem with my UHC stand alone coverage as soon as I provided the letter on carrier letterhead showing my plan included Major coverage for the time periods they wanted to see.

( I think it was 12 months of continuous coverage for BC, up to some period fairly close to the start date of the BC coverage. For Delta, it was major coverage within 60 days of the Delta start date. Since I was keeping the UHC coverage, no problems with either as soon as they got a copy of the coverage letter from UHC.)

I don't know, maybe in some ways dental is like life insurance, sometimes you need to know what you're wanting and evaluate plans accordingly. ?? (That's probably why ds4 says he'd rather pick up cans.)

And I do always keep in mind you and Louis like the Manhattan coverage too. I just, personally - particularly having some other options in place - can't buy into the age banded premium concept.

Have you been able to place any of the NCD coverage?

 

[goillini52]

Thanks.

That's very odd on the waiver.

BCBSKS and Delta Dental KS had no problem with my UHC stand alone coverage as soon as I provided the letter on carrier letterhead showing my plan included Major coverage for the time periods they wanted to see.

( I think it was 12 months of continuous coverage for BC, up to some period fairly close to the start date of the BC coverage. For Delta, it was major coverage within 60 days of the Delta start date. Since I was keeping the UHC coverage, no problems with either as soon as they got a copy of the coverage letter from UHC.)

I don't know, maybe in some ways dental is like life insurance, sometimes you need to know what you're wanting and evaluate plans accordingly. ?? (That's probably why ds4 says he'd rather pick up cans.)

And I do always keep in mind you and Louis like the Manhattan coverage too. I just, personally - particularly having some other options in place - can't buy into the age banded premium concept.

Have you been able to place any of the NCD coverage?

No. I'm contracted, but I think their premium is high. Also, I prefer DVH plans....and Manhattan has the best one.

 

[DonP]

The 3 levels of coverage are Preventative, Basic and Major.

NCD will waive the waiting period if you have group coverage...not if you have a stand a lone plan(that never made sense to me). Also, if the waiting period is waived...NO COMMISIONS.

Correct . I was going to go with Ncd coming off group coverage 4 yrs ago . But the deal was you had to have min $1500 coverage in the group plan . I only had a $1000. Also I called customer service and grilled them . If you go outside the network the amount they paid on was very little . For instance on a crown they told me the max approved $ was $600 or so . At 50% that’s only $300 . Individual dental just isn’t worth it

 

[GoPokes]

(Caveat, NOT an agent.)

(And following comments will be a bit vague because I can't remember the dental visit codes or the precise technical names for dental coverage levels 2 and 3 after the preventive level.)

Does BCBSKS allow selling through agents? If they do, sometime when you have a bit of time, consider comparing Delta vs BCBSKS.

IF I was an agent and was going to look at dental plans, I think I would try to offer BCBSKS and UHC.

(and I don't think our UHC networks are "vast" like chazm talks about for FL.)

(And if I was going to consider a third one, I think I would take a careful look at the NCD MetLife plans. With coverage options up to 10K, there may be a good higher coverage/higher premium offering there which one could have for clients.)

The higher cost BCBSKS plan I buy off their website has a very good network. They only offer 1,000 in coverage and their premium may be a bit on the high side for that level of coverage. However they have very good payment amounts, which I suspect accounts for the high network participation. (don't think the same applies to the lower cost senior plan.)

They will both waive Major coverage waiting periods for previous plan Major coverage - but the precise details of the requirements to obtain the waiver are different (and interesting if you are into that kind of thing) between the two carriers.

I am not an agent and don't have access to carrier to agent provided plan details and pricing. Within the information available to me, I found 1 unique characteristic of the BC plan. It puts Root Canals in the coverage level 2 -- with NO WAITING PERIOD. (But remember their exposure is limited with the $1K annual limit.) That was a major factor in my taking BC as a secondary plan when I did.

I think BC put all the dental visit codes in preventive. A thing that griped me about Delta is there is one emergency visit code they put in level 2 (subject to deductible) and limited coverage to 1 visit per year. (Keep in mind I already had UHC as primary coverage.) That one detail of Delta coverage led me to choose BC over delta for additional coverage in a year where I needed several fillings, 2 root canals and 2 crowns. I have never compared dental plan features for coverage needs beyond those.

Nice to see you posting again from time to time.

Regards.
LD

This short answer is, No, BCBSKS does not allow individual agents to sell the dental. As asked a few months ago. I do have their Medicare contract, for medsupp and mapd, they don’t allow PDP sales. BCBS OK does allow individual sales of the dental product

It’s probably been talked about before, but BCBS from one state to the next is often a different company. Same name, but completely different companies. It appears the marketing strategy behind this works pretty well. HCSC and Anthem are dkffferent, and I think there are others.

I’ve put the delta and bcbsks side by side, and BCBS does have a couple of minor advantages, but delta does too. Rural KS dentists take both of these plans in network, so that leads me to believe they are decent …unlike so many other dental plans.

Why do so many dental plans use the same network like Carrington? Are a lot of these dental plans just white labeled for each company?

 

[LostDollar]

Why do so many dental plans use the same network like Carrington? Are a lot of these dental plans just white labeled for each company?

If I asked stuff I asked before, I apologize.

I don't have the knowledge to answer that question. Where I got into this was looking for an expansion of personal coverage 3 years ago.

------------------------------------------
(@Newby -- I used your handle to call your attention to the following 2 paragraphs about my initial dental coverage choice, just to harass you. Regards-LD)

@GoPokes
When I first lost access to group dental coverage, I stumbled onto UHC among other options. This whole insurance thing -- figuring out what agent to trust and use and what is a "good" product -- whatever it is "good" should mean, is a very fearful and agonizing process to me. I think I did a lot of comparing costs and features of UHC and Ameritas among others and also considered that shaffran and chazm were selling ameritas at the time.

But the final choice was all @Newby's fault. sometime back he had made a comment about having a very old golden rule health plan. When I saw UHC = Golden Rule, I said if Golden Rule works for Newby's health insurance, it ought to work for my Dental insurance. This is particularly hilarious because Newby hates dental insurance even worse than he hates the automotive carrier I used for 50 years.
---------------------------------------

Anyway, 3 years ago I came up with going to need 2 root canals, 2 crowns, preliminary endodontic evaluation and maybe 1 or 2 other dental services. This was going to go way beyond the coverage limits of my UHC plan. This was in Nov Dec, I already had the first root canal scheduled for early the following year.

I was trying to see if there was an immediately available additional insurance option that would reduce my provider liabilities from Provider Retail to Network Pricing. Because BC would put root canals in the level 2 of coverage, not subject to a waiting period, that was nice for me because I did not have to wait to be sure all the waiting period paperwork was going to go through before using the plan.

In addition, at level 2 instead of level 3, it meant BC would cover a higher % of provider allowed amount than Delta would. When all the smoke settled later in the year, subject to max policy amounts, I think BC also gave me better provider visit and xray coverage than Delta would have.

(In addition, I had a Dec coverage effective date. That Dec, before root canals and crowns the following year, after my plan evaluations and purchase, my dentist sprang the surpise of $1K worth of fillings on me. My UHC plan had about $100 worth of coverage left. For one month premium on the BC plan, I got a combined network pricing reduction and direct payment to provider of $900 on $1k worth of charges--where otherwise I would have had to come up with $1k I was totally not expecting.)

so I've not acquired the kind of info one would need to answer your question.

But that is just one person's experience for one year of very specific service needs.
------------------------------------

@somarco -- you have mentioned in the past seeing dental coverage behind the scenes. Any comments for @GoPokes on his question?

I’ve put the delta and bcbsks side by side, and BCBS does have a couple of minor advantages, but delta does too. Rural KS dentists take both of these plans in network, so that leads me to believe they are decent …unlike so many other dental plans.

It seems like, for over 65 where I was looking, BC had 2 plans. Delta had 4 -- those may have been for all ages.

I would not make your statement for the low cost, over 65 BC plan.

I would suspect your comments are correct for the higher cost over 65 BC plan and, say, the middle 2 priced Delta plans.

I did not look while making this post -- it seems like the lowest $ delta plan was limited in what it would cover and if the difference in the highest cost one was just teenage orthodontic coverage, that was of no use to me for my coverage needs as a senior.

 

[LostDollar]

No. I'm contracted, but I think their premium is high. Also, I prefer DVH plans....and Manhattan has the best one.

Correct . I was going to go with Ncd coming off group coverage 4 yrs ago . But the deal was you had to have min $1500 coverage in the group plan . I only had a $1000. Also I called customer service and grilled them . If you go outside the network the amount they paid on was very little . For instance on a crown they told me the max approved $ was $600 or so . At 50% that’s only $300 . Individual dental just isn’t worth it

Caveat, not an agent.

I appreciate the NCD feedback.

(don, the only reason I didn't put a like on your post too is its last sentence.)