Part of the "What I Learned Reading CDHC Solutions" series: According to Mark Roberts of Careington Interntional, dental plans, even the "Cadillac" ones, will not be as adversely affected by the new health care law as some have feared. In fact, it appears from the
article that stand-alone dental and vision plans will not be taxed. In fact, most of the new rules will not apply to companies of 100 or more employees. Also, most of the new rules, like the rest of the bill, will not come in to effect until 2014. The health care law does a lot to address coverage as far as making it more available and things like recognizing dental hygienists as primary oral health providers and grants for companies to retain dental health providers.
It all sounds good of course, but the article specifically points out how the legislation does nothing to address the costs of dental care, going so far as to say that costs will go up. The article points out the dangers of not practicing good oral hygiene, which includes annual cleanings and check-ups from dentists, and that is very true. However, making it available to everyone will likely cheapen the quality despite the debt-causing grants included in the bill to train more dental hygienists. In all seriousness, look around the next time you go to your dentist. Mine is always busy as hell. Can he take on 20 more patients a week, 30? No, absolutely not. He barely spends 2 minutes with me as it is. I do not want to pay more for even less time, if that's even possible.