November is National Military Family Appreciation Month and as my husband's military career winds down I think about the positive benefits of being in the military and things I'm thankful for.
Included in those things are the health and dental benefits provided to military family members through the TRICARE Health Plan and the Metlife TRICARE Dental Program. I'm thankful for the coverage of health and dental benefits these programs provide to my family and this coverage gives me peace of mind about my family's health and well-being.
While the MetLife TRICARE Dental Program is part of the TRICARE Health Plan for military families, they are both separate enrollments that families have to elect coverage - neither program is automatic - but I can't see any reason a military family wouldn't want to be enrolled in either program.
The MetLife TRICARE Dental Program provides dental benefits to spouses and children of Active Duty personnel (the active duty member receives dental coverage at the dental clinic on their duty installation) and National Guard and Reserve members and their families.
What I like about the dental program is the convenience of the program to provide us continuous coverage despite frequent moves or deployments. An example is when a military member deploys for a year sometimes the family will move to go stay with relatives. Even if the family isn't near a military installation, or have moved away from their sponsor's duty location, they will still receive coverage from the large network of dental providers worldwide.
Another benefit to this program is the low-cost shares of the program. There is a minimal monthly premium to receive 100% coverage (no out of pocket costs) for diagnostic and preventive services; which includes two free cleanings each year. This is important to me because I believe early detection of any dental issues is key to preventing worse problems in the future. Cost-share for other services range from 20-50% so this is pretty affordable for dental coverage.
We have had positive experiences with our in-network dental providers. When we first moved here I attended a resource fair where there were several dental offices in attendance. I asked one of them two questions that are important to me when finding a new dental provider: 1) Are you a MetLife TRICARE Dental provider? and 2) Do you have experience with children with disabilities? Thankfully they could answer yes to both those questions. Finding a children's dental provider with experience in treating kids with disabilities is important since Kayla has a fear of all things medical/dental. We need a provider who is patient, thorough and will explain things to Kayla.
Military families can find more information on the dental program, to include enrollment information, at TRICARE Dental Benefits.
You can follow MetLife TDP on Twitter @MetLifeTDP and by using #MetLifeTDP; and follow on their Facebook page.
2 comments:
As with our medical, there should be NO out of pocket for dental expenses. Why they separate the two is ridiculous. The mouth is the gateway to a number of preventable health issues and thus should be given the same level of care as the rest of our bodies. For those of us with special needs kids our only options are grants or Medicaid to cover dental trips. If you are not special needs and need dental work prepare to fork out that cash! $500 OUT OF POCKET if your dependent requires sedation for an exam or procedure..that is just for sedation, then another couple hundred for the work needed.
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