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Get Listerine fluoride for free with Obamacare – maybe

January 30, 2017 By Trish Walraven Leave a Comment

magtodd

I feel very targeted right now.

It’s because I’m one of the 16% of Americans that everyone is fighting to either “guarantee insurance” for or “force insurance” upon, depending on which side of the aisle you stand.

You see, my family has Obamacare.

It’s not because we can’t afford anything else. It’s because there simply is no other major medical care available for small employers who either aren’t required to offer insurance to their employees or cannot obtain group insurance because of the size of the company. We privately purchase the exact same plan offered on the Marketplace; it’s off the exchange, though, so there are no subsidies.

Here’s the cool (mint?) reason for mentioning this on DentalBuzz. As part of a family that’s enrolled in a plan that was created due to Obamacare, I discovered by accident that there’s a way to get Listerine fluoride rinse for free.

What happened is that I was browsing through the 2017 drug formulary from my insurance company and found something called the ACA Tier. Almost every exchange-eligible plan has a No-Cost Preventive Drug List like this one from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. It states in part:

Your health plan may include certain prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) preventive medicines, as a benefit of membership, at no cost to you when you use a pharmacy or doctor in your health plan’s network. There is no co-pay, deductible or coinsurance, even if your deductible or out-of-pocket maximum has not been met. Coverage for these medicines can vary according to the type of plan you are enrolled in…. Age limits, restrictions and other requirements may apply.”

So I’m going down the list and notice several entries for Listerine:

ACAFLSuppl

How can I get my free bottle, that’s what I said to myself when I read this. You want your free bottle too? Not so fast. All ACA-qualified plans are only required to cover fluoride for children under age 6. Which may mean that if you have children enrolled in Obamacare and they’re preschoolers, all you may have to do is to take your child’s bottle of Listerine up to the pharmacy window, present the insurance card, and they’re supposed to zero out the expense for you. I called my insurance company and this is what they stated. You’ll need to check your own benefit booklet first, though, because some plans only cover fluoride in other forms.

As a dental hygienist and mom, though, what’s a little perplexing is trying to figure out the label directions. We’ll go after this bottle of Listerine Smart Rinse, cause it’s cute and tough all at the same time.

smartrinseanticavityToddler-friendly? Check again.

SMRinseLabel

 

There is a huge disconnect between the FDA and the ACA, and it shows on this label! The Food and Drug Administration says you shouldn’t give it to children under six without consulting a dentist or doctor, but the Affordable Care Act pays for its use only for children that age.

Anyway, we all realize that healthcare in the United States is a work in progress. In other words, it’s a mess, right? And most of us are very much out of our element when we’re trying to figure out what’s covered and what’s not. Did you know that even most dentists and hygienists are clueless about fluoride benefits and the ACA? The only reason that I know anything myself is because I did a bit of sleuthing, found a lot of the Obamacare plans in each state, read their Preventive Drug lists, and then compiled the research. Sure, this article starts off with a little Listerine click-bait (hah! Social Marketing 101 – make ’em look!) but I do want to offer some important education, too. Here goes.

FLtabs• What do all ACA-qualified plans have in common with each other? At the very least, every insurance policy must include fluoride supplementation at no cost for children under age 5. Supplements are recommended mostly in areas where the fluoride level in water supplies are inadequate, and age five and below is the time frame when teeth can be protected most by the ingestion of fluoride. The supplements can be in the form of drops, chewable tablets, or as combination vitamins. All fluoride supplements require a prescription, either from a dentist or a physician’s office.

• Many health plans also pay for the in-office topical application of fluoride varnish. This is covered by the medical side of the plan, not the dental benefit, so you should either be savvy with using the medical code (CPT 99188) or leave it in the pediatricians’ sticky hands. Haha, sticky hands. If you’ve ever worked with fluoride varnish, it sticks to evvvverrrrry thing if you’re not careful. But hey, it’s why varnish can give up to six months of cavity protection, too. Some plans cover fluoride varnish applications as an unlimited benefit, however, I found that most plans pay for no more than two applications per calendar year.

prevdnt

• Some of the plans reviewed include prescribed and/or over the counter (OTC) topical fluoride gels, pastes, and rinses, such as the previously mentioned Listerine Fluoride, Act Rinse, Prevident, Fluoridex, Gel-Kam, Clinpro 5000, Phos-Flur, Omni Gel and others. A few of the plans even list brand-name toothpastes, although I wouldn’t count on those getting covered.

Although I reviewed somewhere in the range of 50-100 healthcare plans available, I can’t tell you specifically which fluoride products are covered by, say, Cigna versus Aetna, because they vary so much between states. You’ll have to read your plan, or better yet, call your insurance company. Be sure to share what you discover with your dentist, hygienist, or physician, so they can help your kids get the fluoride prevention that you’ve already pre-paid for.

Because, let’s face it, pre-payment is what preventive healthcare insurance is, anyways. You only “pay an ounce” for prevention, after all, so you should get at least that much back. Especially when a pound – 16 fluid ounces – of Listerine fluoride costs your insurance company only five bucks.

It sure beats the bill for a pound of actual cure.

 

 

TWimage1

Trish Walraven, RDH, BS is a dental hygienist from the Dallas/Fort Worth area who cropped out her lovely daughter in this photo because it’s very, very obvious that she’s older than five. She didn’t want the Obamacare Police to have anything on her if she did show up at the pharmacy begging for her “free” bottle of bubble-gum fluoride rinse.

 

 

References and resources

United States Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015 https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-257.html

Aetna Health Care Reform Preventive Care Drug List: https://www.aetna.com/content/dam/aetna/pdfs/formulary/2016_HCR_Preventive.pdf

American Academy of Pediatrics – Oral Health Coding Fact Sheet for Primary Care Physicians: https://www.aap.org/en-us/Documents/coding_factsheet_oral_health.pdf

Science-Based Medicine. Preventing Tooth Decay in Kids: Fluoride and the Role of Non-Dentist Health Care Providers https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/preventing-tooth-decay-in-kids-fluoride-and-the-role-of-non-dentist-health-care-providers/

Kaiser Family Foundation. Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population: http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-population/?currentTimeframe=0

United Healthcare. Topical Fluoride Treatment Dental Clinical Policy: https://www.unitedhealthcareonline.comTopical%20Fluoride.pdf

Humana Pharmacy Solutions. $0 Preventive Medication Coverage: http://apps.humana.com/marketing/documents.asp?file=2838979

Kaiser Permanente. Preventive Services Flier: http://apps.humana.com/marketing/documents.asp?file=2838979

Filed Under: Featured, Preventive Care, Products Tagged With: Affordable Care Act, Fluoride, obamacare, Preventive Care Drug List

Dental Obamacare

January 20, 2009 By Trish Walraven 6 Comments

We were impressed that when put on the spot between inaugural balls today, President Barack Obama was able to outline his plan to give all people in the United States of America the right to a beautiful, healthy smile. The big question is: just who are his dental advisors?

Obama’s Mastication Initiative for America (MIA)

The people of the United States should realize that teeth are a quality of life issue. The government cannot force a citizen to take care of his or her body, nor should a person be penalized for issues that are beyond their control. We have seen the insurance industry take hold of healthcare and overvalue its services. Furthermore, dentists throughout our great nation have resisted the tide of managed medicine and are now capable of not only improving the quality of their patients’ lives, but even the very length of the average American lifespan.

When we look at the technological advances that have been made in dentistry, we know that now is the time for change. It is this administration’s hope that by combining personal responsibility with expert guidance, my Mastication Initiative for America will fulfill the needs of all Americans, not just the ones barely getting by; not just the wealthy, but every one of us.

The details will be forthcoming when I have more than a few breaths of air between dipping my wife on dance floors, but here is a brief outline of the plan:

1. Participation in the plan is voluntary, both for dental providers and for patients.

2. Payments will be made directly to patients on a yearly basis, with the exception of the Lump Sum plan that is described in line 6.

3. All participating dental practices will engage the use of a government-approved method of data gathering and reporting, to be agreed upon in the future, but possibly a special watermarked panoramic digital image that can be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Resources. This will significantly decrease the ability for fraudulent reporting on patient status.

4. Each person under the age of 30 will be required to have yearly dental images submitted on their behalf for reimbursement by the federal government. There will be a fixed amount allowed per person, regardless of actual care rendered. i.e. $500 per year per person under 30. Under no circumstances will any funds be reimbursed if basic preventive measures were not pursued by the patient or their family.

5. Third Molar Extraction will be considered a medical expense, as will any congenital deformity that is currently considered the arena of oral maxillofacial surgeons, so is excluded from the MIA plan.

6. At the age of 30, regardless of previous dental history, all citizens will be eligible for Dental Implant Screening (DIS). Because of the excellent properties of implants versus natural teeth regarding the elimination of the periodontium and thus the link to systemic disease, it is the MIA’s recommendation for DIS to be implemented before dental disease is likely to permanently affect a person’s whole health. Those who are at risk for losing their teeth, who have already lost teeth, or who simply make the choice of not wanting to maintain their teeth will, at this time in their lives, be given the opportunity to have all their teeth removed and have dental implants placed instead. This is a Lump Sum, and will include a preventive appliance to be worn at night. Any person who has implants with DIS will not be able to participate in the MIA after having implants placed.

7. DIS practitioners will work directly for the government, be well-trained, and well-compensated for their expertise.

8. From the age of 30 onward, payments from the MIA will be based on the number of healthy, maintained teeth that a patient displays in the accepted yearly imaging submitted. Included as healthy teeth: those with no restorations, restored teeth with no active defects, teeth with successful root canal therapy, periodontally involved teeth with no bone loss noted within the past year, and dental implants. Teeth that would not be counted for MIA payments: Broken teeth, retained root tips, teeth with active decay, and teeth showing periodontal involvement that has progressed since the previous submitted image.

This is the plan that will ensure that all Americans will be able to smile proudly, whether it is a God-given smile or one granted to them by choice, and no longer will we as a nation be faced with lost work time, emergency room visits, and other troubles caused by bad teeth. After all, this is the very soil where the “Hollywood Smile” was born, and so I ask you to consider what is best for our country, for our children, and for dentistry in the new economy to come.

Filed Under: Dental Debates, Fun, Money, Operative Dentistry, Preventive Care Tagged With: dental implants, dental insurance, healthcare reform, Obama, obamacare, Obamanomics

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DentalBuzz explores rising trends in dentistry with its own slant. The speed at which new products and ideas enter the dental field can often outpace our ability to understand just exactly the direction in which we are heading. But somehow, by being a little less serious about dentistry and dental care, we might get closer to making sense of it all.

So yeah, a tongue-in-cheek pun would fit really nicely here, but that would be in bad taste. Never mind, it just happened anyways. Stop reading sidebars already and click on some content instead.

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