Military dental insurance is dental insurance packaged specifically for military workers. There are many similarities but also many differences between dental insurance packages offered to military workers and to regular consumers. Just as employees get dental insurance from their employees, so should military workers get dental assistance from whom they serve.
Recognizing your sacrifice as a military worker or the family of one, both the government and the private sector has launched their efforts to provide dental care assistance to you. These dental insurance plans are made affordable to make sure that military workers can easily afford them. Aside from that, however, the plans are designed to help you, as a military personnel working on the field, receive care where you need, and to help your families receive dental care where they are as well.
Sources of Military Dental Insurance: Recognizing the Sacrifice of Military Personnel
- FEHB Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
- TriCare Dental program – A partnership of the government and the private sector
1. FEHB Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
The government offers two different types of dental insurance plans for military personnel. The first of these is the FEHB or Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. This program is concerned with providing overall health benefits to all workers employed by the government, regardless of which department they work in or what kind of work they do. This is not focused on military workers alone, but can also be a source of dental care assistance that military workers can rely on.
2. TriCare Dental Program – A Partnership of the Government and the Private Sector
The government, or more specifically, the Department of Defense, has partnered with the private sector to provide good-quality dental care assistance to military personnel and their families. This is the TriCare Dental Program or TDP. This program is really focused on military personnel, regardless of whether you are an active personnel, are part of the military reserves, or are retired. National Guards are also included. The program also extends to the families of all these military or army workers. The program will apply regardless of where the military member will be based.
The government has partnered with private companies providing dental care plans in order to provide an affordable dental coverage for their military workers. The TriCare Dental Program’s insurance coverage is sourced from a private dental insurance company, but priced and packaged especially for the military workers. What does it mean for it to be especially packaged? Well, for one thing, the coverage should apply internationally, so the plan has to be accepted by dental care providers abroad. This is because military workers are usually deployed, so they might need dental assistance at any given location.
Aside from that, some military insurance often comes with more coverage for some lesser known dental problems and some special dental conditions such as tooth and gum damage caused by injuries, considering the nature of their work.
Military Dental Insurance: Multiple Levels of Protection
A military dental insurance brings many benefits to military workers. The actual benefit is discounts ranging between 20% and 80% of the total cost of dental procedure. But there are more underlying benefits as well. First, it is a way of thanking the military personnel for their valuable work for the country. The discounted rates are hardly enough to thank them for their sacrifice, but it’s definitely a good start.
Second, military workers do not need dental insurance just for assurance. Assurance is part of the package, but they also need it because their work puts them at risk of sustaining injuries to various parts of their bodies. Dental insurance will come in handy for when injuries involve the tooth or mouth.
Third, military dental plans help protect the families of military workers, especially since some members of the army face dangerous situations almost regularly and are almost always traveling. Their families usually get left behind to deal with health and dental care, and they deserve all the help and assistance from military dental insurance that they can get.