Disability Insurance and Irks from the Dentist chair

I had a meeting last week with my disability insurance agent and was admittedly a little disgruntled after my meeting – not only by the fees but also by the WORDING of disability policies. Why hasn’t anyone before fought these insurance companies on their POOR policies!? I pray SO much that nothing happens to me where I need to access by disability policy and yet monthly, I still pay without fail my premium.


As a young woman in my 30s and having an overactive thyroid (a chronic autoimmune problem that has been a part of me since I was almost 23 years old) my disability policy is about $118 per month with dividends that reduce that by a little – but it is STILL a significant expense through the month. My chronic health issue that was more genetically linked than anything I have done has caused me significant concern in my life all by itself- in the fact I have it, medications, side effects, etc. That it is in underwriting as a rider on my disability insurance is a HUGELY annoying and irksome side effect that I cannot ignore and that I cannot forget every time my back feels a little sore or my thumb hurts a little bit after a full mouth extraction case!!!

As a dentist, it is a catch 22. If you don’t have disability you don’t have the option of having aid. You have disability, you pay out the nose and every little thing from the broken toe as a 3 month old to now comes into effect. As a female dentist, I am at a catch 23 (if there ever was a thing). Disability doesn’t include maternity leave – not even as a partial disability when you can’t work because your stomach is preventing you from moving and everything is swelling. As an independent contractor, I am at a catch 24 (again I am making it up), as I do not have workman’s compensation. Disability is all on me. And The wording in my disability policies regarding my inability to be paid if I ever REALLY NEED disability, unless I am a vegetable (which I hope to God I never have to even think about), really makes me LIVID!!!

I have two different policies with two different companies- but what about the wording policies look like regarding % disability (what makes me 18% disabled vs. 19% vs 20%) and how is that even measured??? Why is one policy significantly less but pays more – is the wording of the policy going to make it impossible for me to get access to disability? So what am I paying for?!?! And why do I still need to keep adding more and more money to a policy that I don’t even know I’ll get access to.
Insurance is something we all have JUST IN CASE – but we ALL pray we don’t ever have to need it. But, in my humble opinion, if we need it, we should be able to get it – without games, without headache. Insurance claims, health or otherwise, and the companies are formidably known for denying claims and people are FIGHTING for payment. In health cases, I strongly believe that this shouldn’t be so. If you are disabled and you have to fight not only for your life, family and livelihood AND have to fight the insurance company just on semantics bothers me IMMENSELY.

So…I guess I am VERY passionate about this. But my question is – what do we do??? What about legislation? What about dentist and people’s rights? I know that some people abuse the system but that is NOT everyone by any means. Do I continue to pay my disability insurance monthly and pray I don’t have to use it, and say YAY and HOORAY because I pay something and get nothing!!!?? Or do I not have disability insurance, and get screwed because I don’t even have the option of having assistance?

I always try to be positive – but so far all the alternatives sound, all around, questionable. HELP!

image courtesy of: sagacheapinsurance.com

Do you let insurance dictate how many times you go to the gym? It shouldn’t be so with your dentist!

I’m not writing this entry to lecture. But I do want to make a point, a comparison. There is an emphasis these days on the importance of health and taking care of YOU and the health of your families. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day they tell you. And MANY people spend a lot of time (and finances) on fitness – yearly gym membership, gym clothes, energy and protein drinks, yoga wear, yoga mats…as you know - the list continues. The industry survives & health professionals hope, so do you. 

But this emphasis on health issue does NOT seem to be included when it comes to dentistry! There are many people who faithfully come to the dentist – it is part of their routine and a priority in their life. But there are equally as many, for those lucky enough to even HAVE dental insurance, the feeling that “I am going to do what I’m able to do within the guidelines of my insurance policy.”

I was working on a patient the other day and after treatment was complete I told them that their treatment was all done (yay!) AND that we would like to see them every three or four months (ideally three months if they could manage it). There was a blank stare, uncomfortable silence, and then a look at me like I was nuts. Then they asked “does my insurance cover it? Because I think they only cover two a year.” 

This is a response that I have come to expect – almost like a common pleasantry that people exchange. But if your gym told you that they would cover you only a few times per year, would that keep you from going? Perhaps it would deter some, but most would still just go! And if your gym said that you only get two classes each month that they would cover and then the rest must be covered by you would that keep you from going? NO! More likely than not, you’d still pay to go! So WHY NOT this mentality for dentistry? 

Before I was a dentist I worked in a dental office for two years answering phones, setting schedules, presenting treatment, AND reviewing insurance. I KNOW that there are some terrible and restricting insurance policies –with waiting times, calendar years that start in the middle of a weird month half way into the year, and maximums that seem to disappear as soon as you became eligible to use. And I know that dentistry is not inexpensive, and that if severe treatment must be performed then it can cost an arm and a leg, or teeth in this matter. 

But please remember that, we (and of course I am not speaking for all dentists just as I can’t speak for all patients) are trying to help you make dental treatment decisions that are going to be the best for you in the future. Regardless of cost we will tell you the most ideal option that we think is the best for you and your situation and then present you with the next best option and so on. YOU have the power to make your decisions for yourself. Your mouth. Your body. Your health. Your finances. And YOU always have the right to say no and go by insurance. But PLEASE do not let insurance policies dictate what you can and cannot do. We buy insurance policies to help us, and we have them to help us, but they should not be dictating your treatment choices. Only you can do that.

So we don’t have a set price for membership like the gym – say an average of $24.99 per month. But we are a part of your lifetime membership to good health and prevention. Because without teeth, how can we smile, how can we eat, how can we enjoy life, how can we chew? It is a quality of life issue….and we want what is BEST for you. So please try to remember to INCLUDE us in your life's health plan and not just because your insurance policy reminds you we are here!!

image courtesy of: about-face.org.