Even though insurance companies promise a ‘cheaper’ service through their own contracted dentists, patients may find a different quality of service compared to an independent family dentist.
A contracted dentists’ fee schedule is dictated by the health fund. However, their overheads are not – and we are concerned that the patient will be the ‘meat in the sandwich’. This may potentially lead to the contracted dentists cutting corners and increasing productivity, leading to decisions being made on the basis of rebate rather than what is best for the patient.
In fact, we have seen many instances with our own regular patients who have come in with a treatment plan from a contracted dentist that would have resulted in much higher total costs to the patient.
Rockingham Dental Centre is proud to be an independent family dentist.
All our dentists feel strongly about why we are NOT a ‘preferred provider’ practice. We always aim to provide the highest quality of care for our patients with complete transparency of their treatment options without influence from insurance companies.
We have always been competitive with our pricing, however that has never been more important than the quality of our patients’ care.
A recent report from the Centre for International Economics, prepared for the Australian Dental Association (ADA), found that private health insurance companies came out gaining a profit over patients, particularly with extras cover. It stated, “In the 12 months to September 2017, the average benefit paid for allied health and dental care in Australia was $403.80, compared to the average cost of a single policy which is approximately $606 each year”.
As a result, “Many consumers with general treatment cover still pay high out-of-pocket costs due to:
- Exclusions in policies
- Variation in coverage across providers
- Minimal annual increases in rebates for services such as dental
- Limited movement in the value of annual limits”
Rockingham Dental Centre supports the ADA’s campaign for “Same Policy, Same Treatment, Same Rebate” – a message to MPs that when it comes to private health insurance, everyone should be treated the same.
