{"id":1324,"date":"2012-11-25T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2012-11-25T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2017-12-18T22:39:39","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T22:39:39","slug":"using-your-dental-and-medical-insurance-benefits-before-years-end-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/using-your-dental-and-medical-insurance-benefits-before-years-end-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Your Dental and Medical Insurance Benefits Before Year\u2019s End (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>During this time of year when holiday gatherings start filling in the schedule, it\u2019s often easy to forget using up flexible spending funds, or maximizing insurance benefits. Here are some points to consider that can save you hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n

Flexible Spending Health Accounts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

These health spending accounts represent tax-free money that workers set aside for health expenses and if they are not used, they are lost. Research shows that many people leave behind unused funds at year\u2019s end. But please remember, \u2018if you don\u2019t use it \u2013you lose it\u2019 in regards to flexible spending dollars.<\/p>\n

Yearly Deductibles:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A deductible is the amount of money that you must pay before a medical or dental procedure will be paid through your insurance company. For many patients, deductibles have already been met by this time of year and for most, that amount needs to get paid all over again after January 1st<\/sup>. \u00a0If you have already met your deductible for the year, it\u2019s a great time to fit in those extra dental or medical appointments.<\/p>\n

Yearly Maximums:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In regards to dental insurance, yearly maximums often apply. Typically that means that your dental insurance may pay for a certain number of dollars per year (after your deductible is met) and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Consider maximizing this full amount with necessary treatment especially if your deductible has been met.\u00a0 We have found that typically if an \u2018emergency\u2019 situation arises in one calendar year, the entire year\u2019s allowance is often used to treat that area leaving little for other recommended treatment.\u00a0 Since \u2018unused dental dollars\u2019 do not rollover to the next calendar year, it\u2019s often best to use them up freeing benefits should a dental emergency arise in the future.<\/p>\n

Monthly Premiums:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether you use your insurance or not, you are paying out monthly premiums.\u00a0 Even if you elect not to perform non-emergency medical, dental or optometric treatments, regular check-ups just make sense.\u00a0 Coming from a family heritage of \u2018not wasting\u2019 resources, it\u2019s always been difficult to watch patients keep paying monthly premiums and not coming in for regular preventative or maintenance procedures like cleanings and exams. Often, unchecked conditions can escalate and in the long run cost you far more in medical and dental costs.<\/p>\n

Increase in fees:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many practice; medical and dental often consider raising fees after the first of the year. As costs of supplies, equipment and overall expenses increase, typically fee increases need to be considered. Getting those advised procedures before years end, can get your billings out on lower fee schedule, ultimately leading to lower co-pays.<\/p>\n

Now that you realize the benefits of completing treatment in the next few weeks, see our following post for a list of procedures to consider in maximizing your benefits before the end of the year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sherman Oaks Denta<\/a>l, located in Naperville, Illinois has been providing family dental care for patients from Naperville, Wheaton, Aurora, Lisle and Chicago surrounding areas for over two decades.<\/p>\n

by Dr. Lydia Sosenko<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During this time of year when holiday gatherings start filling in the schedule, it\u2019s often easy to forget using up flexible spending funds, or maximizing insurance benefits. Here are some points to consider that can save you hundreds of dollars. Flexible Spending Health Accounts: These health spending accounts represent tax-free money that workers set aside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[805],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3713,"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/3713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napervilledentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}