# VHI Dental (US dental insurance management company, DeCare.)



## anthonybernard (21 Sep 2004)

Is VHI dental plan worth it ?


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## Enaja (21 Sep 2004)

No, it's just another way to "extract" money from you!


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## robertmullins (23 Sep 2004)

I agree not worth it. They claim that they cover emergency cases which is a lie as I had a situation and they told me that they would not honor it even though it was an emergency.


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## rainyday (23 Sep 2004)

According to the [broken link removed], 'Dental Emergencies at Home' are covered for "Unlimited treatment to the maximum benefit of your chosen plan". If VHI refused such a claim, don't let them away with it - you should complain to the Insurance Ombudsman.


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## anthonybernard (23 Sep 2004)

I have a child that will need braces just wondering would joining vhi be a good idea to cover some of this costly work ?


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## rainyday (23 Sep 2004)

Hi Anthony - Have a look at the VHI link above, see what items are covered and compare this against the costs of the policy.


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## Chas (9 Oct 2004)

Whast are the typical costs of the following through your local dentist ?

Check-up (say twice a year)
Scale and polish (say once a year)
Normal filling (one a year)
Root filling (one every 2 years)
(Thats my last 2 years treatment, obviously yours may vary depending on age, whether you drink/smoke, brush properly, etc)

Add them all up and compare with cost of policy.


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## kiwijbob (11 Oct 2004)

*vhi dental*

good friend of mine is a dentist and he told me it's rubbish really, not highly scientific I agree but there you go anyway.


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## ajapale (4 Nov 2007)

*Re: VHI Dental*

VHI dental was discussed on the Joe Duffy Show during the week.

A lot of less than happy customers out there!


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## markowitzman (4 Nov 2007)

*Re: VHI Dental*

it is a waste of time and they are constantly tightening eligibility of  treatements.


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## Brendan Burgess (4 Nov 2007)

*Re: VHI Dental*

The dentist from the VHI explained things very well I thought. 

It's mainly for medical treatment and not for visual purposes. 

I felt sorry for the woman who spent €40k(?) after an accident, but this was before the VHI started covering dental work and the policy simply exempted dental work at the time. It's easy for sympathy for someone like that to be taken out on the VHI. 

Brendan


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## markowitzman (4 Nov 2007)

*Re: VHI Dental*

Brendan, the dentist from VHI is ex HSE and was headhunted by VHI specifically to do the PR etc to limit eligibility for dental treatments. I think the HSE philosophy of "cut, cut cut" has unfortunately percolated into this scheme.
This scheme is dying in the water and the uptake is very poor.
They have tightened benefit hugely since inception and on the ground it is nigh impossible to have any confidence in the scheme as they move the goalposts so often on the patient. If I were to advise a patient to join, carryout treatment and then the patient is not reimbursed dueto the goalposts being moved then I am the fall guy and am potentially left with a bad debt whilst the vhi continue to collect premia.
The VHI dental scheme needs to be much more transparent with patients and practitioners for it to have any chance of survival.
Also it has to be said that with the fact that 80% of population quailifying for state dental schemes and the presence of tax relief on numerous dental treatments one really has to question where is the "niche" for vhi dental?


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## ajapale (4 Nov 2007)

*Re: VHI Dental*



markowitzman said:


> .. where is the "niche" for vhi dental?..



I imagine the larger multinational corporations may want to offer dental plans to some of their employees.


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## markowitzman (4 Nov 2007)

*Re: VHI Dental*

this is exactly my point jaybird.....were you to have your treatement now you would be covered for much less and this situation is getting worse. This is exactly how they are working......hook as many customers as they can in first couple of years and then reduce entitlement and tighten eligible treatments so as to increase their profits.
If only they left the entitlements as per intial inception !!


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## scuby (5 Nov 2007)

anthonybernard said:


> Is VHI dental plan worth it ?



like any insurance plan.. only if you have to claim.. 



Enaja said:


> No, it's just another way to "extract" money from you!



car insurance come to mind 



robertmullins said:


> I agree not worth it. They claim that they cover emergency cases which is a lie as I had a situation and they told me that they would not honor it even though it was an emergency.



asaik, it the initial emergency treatment that is covered, not treatment a few months after the accident



markowitzman said:


> Brendan, the dentist from VHI is ex HSE and was headhunted by VHI specifically to do the PR etc to limit eligibility for dental treatments. I think the HSE philosophy of "cut, cut cut" has unfortunately percolated into this scheme.
> This scheme is dying in the water and the uptake is very poor.
> T


from the radio the other day, dental is part of DeCare an american company, and vhi are only the selling agent for it, and do not process the claims. dental would be more an american thing, and are prob testing the irish market...



ajapale said:


> I imagine the larger multinational corporations may want to offer dental plans to some of their employees.


american comp's giving the same cover as their american employee's ?


there's a lesson there some where ..... wash your teeth, good hygiene and will not have to go to dentist, and pay way too much


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## markowitzman (5 Nov 2007)

[FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]
article in sunday business post of 19/11/06 announced premium increase 10%
but
1.max cover reduces from 2.5k to 1.5k per annum
2.waiting time to repair/replace missing tooth via complex treatment increased from 3 to 12 months in order to be covered.
3.reduced cover for major treatments from 70 to 50%.
and this is the recent podcast by dentist from decare 
http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2007/pc/pod-v-311007-48m47s-liveline.mp3
[/SIZE][/FONT]


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## markowitzman (5 Nov 2007)

and now they only cover one crown per annum to an amount of 500 euro.
[broken link removed]


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