Here is the short version of my last post.
In 1967, when dental insurance first ramped up in America, employers commonly purchased plans with $1,000 yearly maximums.
Today, in our experience in Philadelphia, some 95% of PPO plans from United Concordia, Delta Dental, Aetna, Guardian, Cigna and MetLife are purchased with $1,000 for their yearly maximums.
$1,000 in 1967 is the purchasing equivalent to $7,700 in 2019.
Implications:
(1) For 2020, you would need an $8,000 maximum to enjoy the same dental financial benefits that your 1967-era predecessor did.
(2) Your 2020 $1,000-a-year dental insurance plan has decreased in relative value to less than $130-a-year, if you compare purchasing power to what it was for your 1967-era predecessor.
(3) Your payroll deductions are generally much larger than your 1967 predecessor faced. In fact, in those days, there often were no payroll deductions for dental insurance; it was an actual benefit. Something extra.
While there are regional differences, today, Americans who have dental insurance pay an average of around $360 a year for the privilege. Most payroll deductions range between $15 and $50 a month.
In one sense, thus, a modern employee who has dental insurance pays $360 per year to gain $130 per year in inflation-adjusted value, as compared to the tangible value their 1967-era predecessor received. For free. With myriad restrictions and plan limitations and "sorry, not-covered's."
Does this, perhaps, make you angry?
Modern era dental insurance is not insurance at all. It's a yearly coupon, albeit a thousand-dollar one.
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