DENTAL PPO Plans
Dental PRO (Preferred Provider Organization) plans offer a network feature and usually offer a balance between lower costs and dentist choice. PPO dentists participate in the network thereby agreeing to accept contracted fees as payment in full rather than their usual fee for patients with the PPO. When you visit a PPO dentist, you typically pay a certain percentage of the reduced rate (called coinsurance) and the plan pays the rest. The percentage usually varies by the type of coverage such as diagnostic and preventive, major services, etc. For example, preventive services may be covered at 80% (you would pay 20%), while crowns and bridges may be covered at 50%. PPOs usually require you to meet a deductible and have an annual maximum amount of coverage (example: $1,000 per year).
While you typically have the lowest out-of-pocket costs if you visit a PPO dentist, the plan allow you to visit the dentist of your choice, even if he/she is not in the network.
Since a Dental PPO offers an extensive dentist network, it's usually easy to find a PPO dentist so that you can maximize your savings. And when you visit a Dental PPO dentist, they will submit your claims for you and accept payment directly from the Dental PPO insurance. You'll only have to pay your portion of the service rather than pay the entire fee and wait for reimbursement.