Open Season and Your Dental Insurance Coverage

By Tontra Lowe, DDS

Are you tired of seeing open season or open enrollment commercials for Medicare and other insurance companies this time of year? Have you checked your medical, dental, or vision benefits lately? Your HR department may have already sent out several email reminders regarding when the open season begins with your company. Now is the perfect time to determine if you need to make any changes or modifications to make 2023 your healthiest year.

There is so much information and misinformation passed along from one person to the next this time of year concerning the open season and what it really means for you and your family. As you conduct your research and decide what will work best, here are a few tips to help:

Tip #1: Know when the open season begins and ends with your employer. Open season, also known as open enrollment, is a specific time each year when employees can modify current insurance carriers and benefits, cancel insurance benefits, or sign up for insurance for the upcoming year. During open enrollment, you will have the best opportunity to ask critical questions about the plan and its coverages to make an informed decision. The dates for 2022 are November 14-Dec 12 for federal employees and Tricare. Medicare’s open enrollment ends on December 7, 2022. Other employers have varying dates.

Tip #2: Visit your dentist regularly to determine if you need to increase your benefit amount or select a better carrier based on your treatment needs. If you do not have a current treatment plan to get you healthy, please make an appointment with your dentist. It is tough to make decisions that will impact your family’s health for the next entire year without some guidance. The negative impact on your mouth, overall health, and bank account could be significant.

Tip #3: If your favorite dentist is becoming an unrestricted provider with your insurance carrier, as seen more frequently in this post-COVID environment, make sure you have in and out-of-network benefits to help cover your dental expenses.

Take advantage of the opportunity to update, change, or sign up for dental insurance during this open-season period. Remember, your decision will profoundly impact what is covered or not for the next full year. Do your research based on what treatment you need and make the best decision for your mouth and overall health. You, and your family, are worth it.