Ohio is a highly competitive marketplace for individual and family dental plans which means that, with so many to select from, Ohioans can now buy a complete dental plan for less than what they would spend on just two routine visits per year.  Here is the newest list of the top rated plans from HCI Ohio.

Ranking was decided by first selecting the best in each of the eight categories of dental plan and then these 8 were evaluated against each other in terms of total cost and dentist availability.  Rates listed below are for May, 2011.

Number one overall is UnitedHealth’s Dental Value.   This is a Basic PPO insurance plan with an extensive network throughout the state, 100% coverage for preventive and diagnostic work, 80% for basic and 50% for major.  Premiums for an individual are around $20/month and $71/month for a family.

Number two is a Traditional PPO plan, Dental Premier, also from UnitedHealth.  This has the same coverage levels as the Value plan but gives higher payments to out-of-network providers, ideal if your primary dentist is not in the network but you would use a network specialist.  Premiums for an individual are about $34/month and less than $120/month for a family.

Number three is a Traditional (UCR) insurance plan from Spirit Dental.  100% coverage for preventive services, basic services at 80% go to 90% coverage in the third year you are in the plan and major services are covered at 50%.  Since there is no network you can go to any dentist but if the dentist you select charges more than UCR (usual, customary and reasonable) fees you are responsible for the difference.  Individual premiums are just over $31/month and family premiums are $91/month.

Spirit Dental also claims the number four spot with their Open Network HMO plan, DHA-Premier PPO.  You are free to go to any dentist in the network and coverage is 100% for preventive, 80% for basic (90% in the third year) and 50% for major (60% in the third year), but there is no out-of-network coverage.  Individual premiums are around $28/month and families pay $77/month.

Fifth is a Preventive PPO plan, Dental Preventive Plus, from Humana.  100% in-network and 70% out-of-network coverage for preventive services and limited basic services covered at either 50% or 30%.  Individual premiums are $14/month and families pay $49/month.

Dental plan number six is a DMO (dental HMO) plan, Dental Prepaid C550 , formerly from CompDent before they were purchased by Humana but still being carried under the Humana label.  You must select a primary care dentist from the network and then make copays at the time of service; routine visits every 6 months are $10.  Individual premiums are just over $14/month and a family of 4 is just over $41/month.

Plan number 7 is not an insurance plan at all but a Discount Dental Plan from Careington.  For less than $7/month for an individual and $16/month for a “everyone living at your address” you have access to around 40% of all the dentists in Ohio at discounts in the range of 50% to 70%.  Plus, since this is not an insurance product, there are no deductibles or waiting periods so this is the plan to select if you need a root canal or a crown right away.

Last on the list is a Scheduled Indemnity plan, Dental Coverage Plus from Assurant.  With this plan you can go to any dentist and are reimbursed according to a payment schedule.  Scheduled indemnity plans are the type of dental plan that most people are familiar with because, until recently, they were the only type of plan available to individuals who did not want to use a DMO dentist and they are still the most common plan offered as a voluntary benefit through employer groups.  Premiums for plans in this category are generally higher than the newer PPO plans, however.  Monthly costs for this Assurant plan vary by age, ranging from $30 to $57 for an individual and from $102 to $199 for a family.

By Ronald Haines, ronald@hcibenefits.com