I've read the other dental insurance threads on here, but I was hoping that folks with insight in this area could give their opinions on our specific situation.
DW and I have several plans available through work (State of Florida). You can see a full list here (
http://mybenefits.myflorida.com/health/supplemental_insurance_plans/dental_plans) but the two I think we're deciding between are Humana Network Plus Prepaid [which I believe is an HMO] and Humana Preferred Plus PPO. The cost for the HMO is $24 for just me, $47 for me and wife, $72 for family (we have a 19 month old). The PPO is $32/$60/$97.
My teeth are a bit of a mess (one broken and bonded, many cavities [some filled in China], low to moderate gum pockets), DWs are great, DD has never been to a dentist. DW currently has a cheaper HMO plan, but her dentist (and every other dentist I called) is not accepting it in 2017. I currently have the HMO plan, and the dentist I've been going to (who I'm relatively pleased with) will accept it in 2017 as well. I get the impression that PPOs are better for folks with janky teeth (like me) but the plan limit is $1200. Wouldn't I be better off with an HMO that has copays for every procedure with no limits? That said, I don't expect needing anything major -- maybe a cavity, some basic periodontic cleaning, maybe a repair to my bonded tooth.
Here's a list of the copays for the HMO (
http://www.compbenefits.com/custom/stateofflorida/Network-Plus-Prepaid_Sched-Lim_Exc.pdf) and here's a breakdown of how the PPO works (
http://www.compbenefits.com/custom/stateofflorida/Preferred-Plus-DPPO_Sched-Lim_Exc.pdf).
My current plan is to add DW to my HMO plan ($47 per month) and have her start using my dentist. Alternatively, I could change us both to the PPO ($60 per month) and she could stay at her current dentist (or we could both switch to another dentist I've heard good things about). And DD would probably not go to the dentist next year, but if she did we'd just do out of pocket.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! And if you need any additional info from me, please don't hesitate to ask.