What Is Indemnity Dental Insurance?

The primary difference between an indemnity dental insurance plan and a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan, other than the cost, is that under an indemnity dental plan, usually the insured is allowed to choose the dentist of his or her choice. This is unlike a PPO, where the insured selects a dentist from an approved provider list. Generally an indemnity plan pays a set dollar amount or a portion of the dentist's fees, whichever is less. If there is a difference between the dentist's full charge and the amount covered by the indemnity plan, then the insured individual usually pays the difference. Payments made by assignment are sometimes paid directly to the dentist, or the plan may pay benefits directly to the insured, who is then responsible for paying the dentist's fees.

DHMO

Dental Health Maintenance Organization (DHMO) plans are usually the least expensive of all dental insurance plans. With DHMO plans, participating dentists usually receive payment directly from insurance companies and are often rewarded for maintaining the insured individual's good dental health, thereby keeping plan costs low. Dentists are paid directly by the insurance company for each individual, regardless of how often or how much covered services are utilized.

PPO

Individuals covered by Preferred Provider Organizations (or PPOs) are usually limited to the services of dentists (or providers) who names appear on a pre-approved list or to those providers who belong to a network of pre-approved dentists. Generally, these plans allow for the insured to opt for services from the dentist of his or her choosing, though if the dentist is not approved, then the costs to the insured are higher.

Schedule plans or scheduled reimbursement plans

Scheduled plans do include a scheduled calendar-year maximum. A scheduled plan usually includes a fee list of the maximum allowable costs or the fees that are paid by the insurance company for each potential procedure. The difference between the actual cost of any given procedure and the allowable cost is paid directly to the provider by the insured.

Other dental insurance plans may include dental discount cards. Discount cards allow uninsured individuals the option of obtaining affordable dental care by saving cardholders considerable dental costs on many procedures as well as on prescription medications.