Dental Insurance Changes for Retirees- How Does It Affect You?

Author: Dr. David Dickerhoff, DDS, MAGD, FOCOI

This December, retirees and their families will experience their dental insurance coverage changing. Each retiree family that is enrolled must choose which plan they wish to participate in. Our patients of record are interested as to whether Spring Lake Dental Group will be an in network provider for these plans.

Well, that’s a good question.

Insurance plans are run by companies that are looking to make a profit; they bid with the federal government to be able to provide these services. In my opinion, our government is not doing the best job at negotiating with these companies. The covered services have been consistently shrinking and the amount of reimbursement makes it difficult to meet my overhead in running the practice. I know, I know, you don’t particularly care about my cost of doing business and just want a great service at a good price provided by a caring team of professionals.

Our relationship with our retirees and their families has been a cherished relationship over the past 22 years and philosophically we value greatly the privilege of taking care of these patriots. We have always done the utmost to provide state of the art care with an eye on always using techniques and materials that are top of the line. But it’s getting harder and harder to do that and there comes a time where being a businessman and being a philosophical patriot is challenged. My personal philosophy makes me push this decision to the furthest degree where I continue to provide care for our long time patients of record. We value this relationship and I hope that you have grown to value the benefit of having a long term stable relationship with one care provider.

My hope is that you can help me continue to be a positive force within the Spring Lake/Fayetteville/ Fort Bragg Community. Referrals are the life blood of any medical practice. Social media is how people find a dentist these days. Any assistance that you can provide by utilizing our website, leaving a review or to talk about our practice to your friends and coworkers would be greatly appreciated. And if there ever is a problem with the services that we have provided you or anyone that you have referred to us, I am always available by email [email protected] or my personal cell (910) 670-6421. I hope our future relationship continues to flourish. My service to our country had a great and amazing impact on me in a very positive vein. It matters to me that I remain personally fulfilled by continuing to provide care to our patriots and their families.