2024 Dental Insurance Benefits: Use Them or Lose Them
Fall is one of the busiest times of the year. Children and parents are still adjusting to the new school year, fall sport seasons are winding down and everyone is preparing for Thanksgiving. Not to mention parents are busy working and providing for the families.
With all this activity preoccupying your time, Gainesville Dental Associates just wanted to remind you to schedule you and your family’s dentist appointments before the end of the year.
Why before the end of the year? Because if you don’t use your 2025 dental insurance benefits before 12/31/24, you lose them! Dental insurance doesn’t roll over to the following year. “Don’t use it, you lose it”.
Besides taking care of an existing tooth pain or scheduling a routine cleaning and exam, here are 5 reasons to schedule your dentist appointment here in Gainesville VA.
- Your Insurance Deductible
Your deductible is the amount of money patients pay to their dentist before their insurance company will pay for dental services. If you already paid your deductible, but only visited the dentist once, you are not “getting your monies worth”. Your deductible starts again each new year.
- Fee Increases or Changes in Coverage
In 2025 there could be a significant amount of changes happening to our health care system and coverage. Therefore, use your benefits before the end of 2024, as there could be fee increases or a reduction in services covered under your current plan.
- Use Your Existing flexible spending account (FSA) Contributions
Another great reason to schedule a dentist appointment before the end of 2024 is to spend any remaining balance in your flexible spending account (FSA). This is an account that you establish through your employer, and that you may have elected to have some of your pre-tax pay put into.
Use it or lose it: If you don’t use all your FSA by the end of the year, you’ll lose them.
Not familiar with an FSA?
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- You decide how much to contribute to your FSA, up to a limit set by your employer.
- You don’t pay taxes on the money in your FSA, so you’ll save the amount you would have paid in taxes.
- You can submit a claim to your FSA through your employer to get reimbursed for your expenses.
- You must re-enroll in your FSA each year.
- Unused contributions may carry over to the next plan year.
- Your employer may ask you to repay any funds left in your FSA at the end of the year, but it can be difficult to do so.
There are three types of FSAs: Health Care FSA (HCFSA), Limited Expense Health Care FSA (LEX HCFSA), and Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA).
- You Premiums could increase
Through your insurance provider, your currently paying dental insurance premiums every month, therefore you should be using your benefits now. Even if you don’t have any pain or issues, you and your family should always have regular dental cleanings and screenings looking for early signs of gum disease, cavities, gum recession and even oral cancer.
- Yearly Maximum
Most dental plans have an annual dollar max. This is the maximum dollar amount a dental plan will pay toward the cost of dental care within a specific benefit period (usually January through December). The patient is personally responsible for paying costs above the annual maximum.
This amount varies by insurance company and usually renews every year. If you have unused benefits, these will not rollover.
Call us now to schedule a dental appointment for a professional dental cleaning or any dental care you may have been putting off before your benefits expire. Because so many of our patients realize this last minute, November and December appointment slots fill up very quickly. We’ll be happy to discuss your remaining benefits and answer any questions you may have.