Important Considerations: Choosing a Dental Plan

All three types cover most of the same types of services, but the way they pay benefits is different.

Key Decision Points:

	Access to Care	How you pay for care	Orthodontia benefit
Indemnity Dental Plan	Use any dentist or dental provider; some provider discounts when you use network provider	Annual deductible and percentage of cost	No adult orthodontia Only Assurant covers for children
PPO Dental Plan	Use network or non-network dentists and providers … your cost is lower in the network	Preventive care: no charge for most in-network All other care: you meet annual deductible and pay a percentage of cost	Adults and children when you use a network provider
Prepaid Dental Plan	Use network providers to receive benefits; no benefits outside network	Pay a copayment for most preventive care (cleanings, x-rays) and a fixed fee for other dental services	Adults and children when you use a network provider

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Many dentists and specialists are in more than one dental network.

• In the chart below, the left column links to the Web sites and the right column offers step-by-step instructions to help make your search easier.
• Keep in mind that dentists enter and leave networks. A dentist in the network now may or may not be in the network when you schedule dental services. You cannot change plans because a dentist leaves the network.
  

Dental Plan Adminstrator	Instructions
Ameritas	Click on Find a Dental Provider
Assurant	Click on Find a Dentist
CIGNA Dental	1. Click on Find Doctors or Dentists by Specialty and follow instructions. 2. When asked to select your dental plan, click "Managed care plan with open access to dentists " and select a dental specialty
Comp Benefits (select one of the links below) Select 15 and Schedule B options Network Plus and Preferred Plus options	Find your plan on the left, then click on Search for Providers under the plan name
United Dental	Click on the Dentist Locator

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The online Dental Plan Cost Estimator can help you do this. It adds up:

• your estimated out-of-pocket costs for care - based on the types of care you anticipate using
• your cost for coverage … for the dental options you choose to compare. That way, you can make an apples-to-apples comparison of your total cost.
  

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The Medical Reimbursement Account and Limited Purpose Medical Reimbursement Account offer tax advantages by allowing you to set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible healthcare expenses - including your dental copays, deductibles and coinsurance. Consider …

Limited Purpose Medical Reimbursement Account	Medical Reimbursement Account
… if you are enrolling in one of the Health Investor Health Plans for medical coverage	… if you are enrolling in one of the state's other medical plans or you are not enrolling in any state medical plan.

You may use a reimbursement account for dental expenses even if you don't enroll in a dental plan.

Use the Reimbursement Account Estimators to see what you might save in taxes - and whether an account makes sense for you.

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Take into account everything you've considered in Steps 1 - 4. Complete this process and enroll for 2009 between September 22, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and October 17, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.

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