Any dental ins companies that waive waiting periods?

Are there any caveats to this? Just want to make the right choice. Also if it helps, I’m in California.
LifeShield does if you've had your current plan for a year.

NCD does if you had a group plan, but not a stand alone individual plan. If they waive the waiting period...no commission.
 
Are there any caveats to this? Just want to make the right choice. Also if it helps, I’m in California.
Caveat, I am not an agent.

I don't believe there is any "standard" procedure for this. You would be well advised to discuss the concern with the specific company(ies) before buying.

3-4 years ago I was looking at additional dental coverage. Generally speaking, what I found then was companies that did have waiting period waivers for prior coverage required that the previous dental coverage included coverage of Major Dental services.

The required length of prior coverage or the "uncovered time gap" between old and new coverage would vary from one carrier to another.

I don't think I ran into the idea that a carrier would accept old group plan coverage as "acceptable prior coverage" but not accept standalone coverage as "acceptable prior coverage", but I guess that could be a factor too.

In my personal case, BCBSKS Dental and Delta Dental of KS both accepted a stand alone plan, which included Major Services coverage, as valid prior coverage for their purposes.
 
Do they even have dental and vision policies?
Yes, they do, split into under 65 and T65 and older markets.

edit 05-09-2024 -------------------
I had not looked at UHC quoting website for KS for 18-24 months.
Looking this morning, I no longer see the over/under 65 product split which I remembered from the last time I looked so they have apparently changed their product lineup again sometime in the last year or two.
end edit 05-09-2024 ----------------------

I bought my coverage before they made that split, and it had a waiting period.

The network in my area is rather small and their allowed amounts per dental service code are probably less than some other carriers.

I haven't looked carefully at their current policy structure, but if there is no waiting period, they may be doing it with tiered coinsurance liability over a 3 year period. Say for basic services, they might pay something like 20% year one, 40% year two, and 70% year three.

If BCBSKS allows independent agents to sell their policies, and, if I was an insurance agent in KS, I think I would consider UHC and BCBSKS for my dental insurance products--or if I did not want to sell dental insurance, I would just refer people to those two companies.
 
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Yes, they do, split into under 65 and T65 and older markets.

I bought my coverage before they made that split, and it had a waiting period.

The network in my area is rather small and their allowed amounts per dental service code are probably less than some other carriers.

I haven't looked carefully at their current policy structure, but if there is no waiting period, they may be doing it with tiered coinsurance liability over a 3 year period. Say for basic services, they might pay something like 20% year one, 40% year two, and 70% year three.

If BCBSKS allows independent agents to sell their policies, and, if I was an insurance agent in KS, I think I would consider UHC and BCBSKS for my dental insurance products--or if I did not want to sell dental insurance, I would just refer people to those two companies.

The DVH UHC coverage is exactly the same day one as it is year 3.
Preventative 100%. Basic 100%. Major 50%. No deductible.
 
The DVH UHC coverage is exactly the same day one as it is year 3.
Preventative 100%. Basic 100%. Major 50%. No deductible.
That is not the case for what is available to me in KS.

I edited my post above--I have not looked carefully at UHC literature for at least 12 months and what I see on their website now is totally different from what I remember from -- say -- 2 years ago. I am either remembering way wrong or I have confused their products with those of another company.

I no longer see a split of product groups for over and under 65.

But I also don't see anything matching up to the specs you describe. You must have access to something else beyond what is available to me as a "direct from carrier" consumer in KS.

What I get today for a KS zip code is a brochure for a product lineup called DentalWise. 1k, 2k and 3K products.

The DentalWise 1000 has a deductible of $100.
No waiting period -- but see payment provisions below.
It pays Basic at 60% year 1, 80% year 2 and after.
It pays Major at 15% year 1, 50% year 2 and after.

(I highly doubt, any of the times I looked at their literature, that I saw a UHC plan available to me in KS that paid 100% on basic services. Preventive yes, but not basic.)

The UHC plan I personally own is a much older plan called Dental Essential Preferred.
It had 4 month waiting for Basic, 12 month waiting for Major.
It could have as many as 4 $50 deductibles.
$50 for Basic in-network and again for out-of-network, $50 for major in-network, and again for out of network.
(That was not a problem for me when I bought the coverage, it is now. I have already outlived several life insurance agents, I am now outliving the working lives of my health care providers and mechanics.)
It pays 70% for basic and 50% for major.
The Vision - Hearing component is actually a separate policy from the dental coverage.
The total premium I pay is probably comparable to the DentalWise Max 1000 premium.
 
That is not the case for what is available to me in KS.

I edited my post above--I have not looked carefully at UHC literature for at least 12 months and what I see on their website now is totally different from what I remember from -- say -- 2 years ago. I am either remembering way wrong or I have confused their products with those of another company.

I no longer see a split of product groups for over and under 65.

But I also don't see anything matching up to the specs you describe. You must have access to something else beyond what is available to me as a "direct from carrier" consumer in KS.

What I get today for a KS zip code is a brochure for a product lineup called DentalWise. 1k, 2k and 3K products.

The DentalWise 1000 has a deductible of $100.
No waiting period -- but see payment provisions below.
It pays Basic at 60% year 1, 80% year 2 and after.
It pays Major at 15% year 1, 50% year 2 and after.

(I highly doubt, any of the times I looked at their literature, that I saw a UHC plan available to me in KS that paid 100% on basic services. Preventive yes, but not basic.)

The UHC plan I personally own is a much older plan called Dental Essential Preferred.
It had 4 month waiting for Basic, 12 month waiting for Major.
It could have as many as 4 $50 deductibles.
$50 for Basic in-network and again for out-of-network, $50 for major in-network, and again for out of network.
(That was not a problem for me when I bought the coverage, it is now. I have already outlived several life insurance agents, I am now outliving the working lives of my health care providers and mechanics.)
It pays 70% for basic and 50% for major.
The Vision - Hearing component is actually a separate policy from the dental coverage.
The total premium I pay is probably comparable to the DentalWise Max 1000 premium.


That’s why us agents are needed. These plans are not listed on UHCs website. At least no where I’ve seen. I can only do a quote by starting a Med Supp application. They don’t have to buy a med Supp. It’s stand-alone.
 
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