April 26 2019, 1:59am EDT
UnitedHealthcare members may be smiling a
little brighter. That’s because the insurer is teaming up with SmileDirectClub
to offer a new benefit to help employees improve their oral health.
The companies are now offering more than 1.5
million UnitedHealthcare dental plan participants with orthodontic coverage the
ability to purchase clear aligners via SmileDirectClub’s teledentistry and
in-store service. Through the insurer, the aligners will potentially cost less
than $1,000 out of pocket, the companies said Wednesday. SmileDirectClub
typically charges consumers $1,850 or $2,170 before insurance and
reimbursements, depending on the type of payment plan they select, according to
the company website.
While SmileDirectClub does accept health
insurance, this is the first time the company has offered its services
in-network with an insurer, says Kyle Wailes, chief financial officer at
SmileDirectClub. Typically, SmileDirectClub users would have to submit a claim
to their insurance and then get reimbursed. With Unitedhealthcare the benefit
will be paid directly, he says.
“We are obsessed with our member experience,”
Wailes says. “Prior to this partnership we accepted insurance but the member
experience could be improved.”
Aside from the aesthetic aspect of dentistry,
oral health can be an indicator of other health problems. For example, research
suggests that gum disease could be linked to chronic conditions like diabetes,
heart disease and stroke, according to the Office of Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion. When teeth are better aligned, it can also make it easier to
brush and floss, and improve overall oral health.
Dental insurance is a relatively standard
employee perk. Around 97% of employers surveyed by the Society for Human
Resource Management said they offered the benefit in 2018, up from 95% in 2014.
This is a relatively small jump compared to vision insurance, another voluntary
offering, which jumped seven percentage points over the same four year period,
SHRM reports.
Offering voluntary benefits like health,
hearing, vision and dental insurance via the same provider makes it easier to
spot a potential health condition, says Tom Wiffler, CEO of UnitedHealthcare
Specialty Benefits. “We can better understand some clinical indicators that
might not otherwise be found when the benefits are separately administered by a
variety of companies,” Wiffler adds.
Consumers can order an impression kit via the
SmileDirectClub website or one of its more than 200 stores, called SmileShops.
Once an employee receives the kit, they take an impression of their teeth and
send it back to SmileDirectClub to prescribe a treatment plan. Members are also
offered a retainer as part of the benefit.
SmileDirectClub has been taking steps to
expand its service. The company recently launched hundreds of its SmileShops in
CVS Pharmacy locations across the U.S. The service will also be offered as an
in-network benefit for Aetna Dental members by summer of 2019.
Wailes says the company is also looking at
further expanding the partnership with UnitedHealthcare. They are considering
offering the benefit to members who don’t have orthodontic coverage, although
the companies are still “ironing out the details,” he says.
“We think there is a health linkage between
straighter teeth, a brighter smile and overall health,” Wiffler adds. “[This
is] another way for us to provide this type of an offering to our members.”
https://www.benefitnews.com/news/unitedhealthcare-smiledirectclub-partner-on-dental-benefit
No comments:
Post a Comment