Dining Out, The Indian Giver and the Freakish Gift Card

A hostess greets you with a smile and asks, “Have you dined with us in the past?”

“Yes, but it has been a while; actually quite a while,” you reply with a little twinge of guilt and embarrassment. “But now that I have a good gift card I should be able to come more regularly.”

She smiles again, and takes you to your seat where your waitress is ready to begin your dining experience.

After a few minutes you have perused the menu and decided on what to get.

“I would like the Caesar salad and the New York steak, medium rare. It should all be taken care of by my gift card.”

“Oh, you have a gift card?” the waitress says with a smile, but not as big, nor as friendly as it was before. She seems a little stressed now. “Let me take a look.”

“Oh, you will need the menu that goes with this gift card. I’ll go get that for you.” She takes your menu. The pleasantness is still there, but she still seems agitated and not as happy – all starting from the moment she saw your gift card.

She returns after a while. “I was able to find the menu for your card,” as she hands you the smaller, shorter, plain covered menu.

Opening it, you notice fewer items, many of which you don't really find desirable. “Why the different menu? I thought the gift card was for the menu you always have.”

“Your gift card is one of the less expensive ones we have and comes with a smaller menu of some lower quality items,” she informs you, still trying to stay as happy as possible. “I will also have to move you to our other dining room, the one your card covers. It's just across the courtyard.”

The room is drafty, decorated with 1970’s era furnishings that are so dilapidated they look like they have been used continually since then. The upholstery is cracked and torn, furnishings are covered with years of ground in grease, cobwebs are visible on almost everything, and the floor is dirty and worn severely. While eating note a few bugs scurrying near the walls.

Your food is just as bad and tastes like it was made in the 1970’s then stored away. The meat is tough, beverages bitter, salad completely limp and flavorless, and everything is just absolutely awful.

Then the bill comes. $75! “Waitress, can you apply this to my gift card?”

“Actually, that includes your gift card. Your card has a deductible and meat is not included for the card's first year.”

“I have to have this a year before I get meat paid for? What if I come back before the year is up? Not that I would consider it. This was the worst meal I have ever had.”

“If you come back before your year is up, your meal will be $15 less because you covered your deductible this visit. But if you go over $250 for the year, you'll have to pay your entire bill. Not to worry, you get another $250 for next year. Whether you use it or not, but if you don't, you get no benefits from having the card. You might as well use it.”

Sounds like a nightmare experience. It in reality is just the current scenario for most dental insurances. They call it and even categorize it as "insurance," but it does not resemble any other insurance. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. Dental "insurance" turns out to be what could be described as an expense aid with very little risk with very little risk for the insurance company. You or your employer pays an amount each year to the insurance company and gives in return an amount to aid in paying for dental health care. The amount paid is usually very close to the maximum benefit paid per individual for the year ($1750 in premiums for $2000 in benefits). If you only have a couple of cleanings in the year, which can come with a $50 - $75 deductible, you leave the about $1700 on the table of unused benefits.

At the end of each year every penny of benefit is removed, and a fresh one put in it's place, with the previous unused amount being lost forever. Back when dental insurance first appeared on the scene, they provided $1000 in benefits per year. That was in 1969; at the time a crown was $99 and a filling $15 (and a car was $2700). You could get a whole mouth of crowns in a couple of years, yet somehow the benefits didn't keep up with the rest of inflation. Now you can get 1 or 2 crowns covered with current dental benefits, forget about a full mouth of them.

Why the lesson in dental insurance? Some folks have misconceptions that dental insurance is the same as medical insurance. Not by a long shot. They actually work like opposites. And, dental insurance is nothing like a gift card, unless it is from an Indian-giver, psycho, control freak. 
Well with the new year upon us, a fresh pile of benefits is awaiting you. If you were smart, you used all the benefits you had last year for what you needed. Now is the time to take advantage of this year's benefits. Get in for a visit with the hygienist and for an exam and make sure you maximize those benefits.