| Are
You Losing Your Right to Choose? Unfortunately,
today many patients are losing the
right to choose their own
dentist. The reason is that
their employers have opted for
inexpensive dental plans that force
patients to see certain
dentists. For many people, the
traditional relationship between
dentist and patent has
disappeared. Patients are forced
to see dentists they do not know
simply because they participate in a
particular plan. This new system
is known as "managed care."
Managed care
essentially forces patients to see
dentists who have agreed to accept
lower fees in exchange for their
services. It is changing the
relationship between dentists and
insurance companies. Instead of
subsidizing the care of patients,
dental insurance providers are now
dictating who patients will see and
what type of care they will
receive. It is not unusual for
insurance company employees
(non-dentists) to dictate the type of
care that is acceptable for patients
they don't even know.
It is true that
managed care plans help reduce the
cost of health insurance to
employers. However, once in a
plan, patients find that these managed
care insurance plans severely limit
their choice of dentists.
In a traditional
dentist-patient relationship, a
patient selects a dentist based on
reputation and need. The patient
is then treated by the dentist and
makes a decision whether or not to
stay with the practice.
Typically, the practice handles the
responsibility of submitting insurance
forms to the insurance company and
patients are responsible for the
amount not covered by the insurer.
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