Supplemental insurance

[Lothlorien]

like Aflac?

Does anyone have any of these supplemental insurance policies? Are they worth it. We are in the middle of doing taxes and between coo-insurance, copays, dental etc. We are way over $5,000 in extra medical bills and that's only because some of the stuff hasn't come in from last year. One place hasn't billed us yet from last February and that's a 1900. bill.

I'm just curious if it would be worth spending the extra money on getting supplemental insurance. Missy is going to need braces eventually. She is definitely needing a palate expander soon and we have no dental insurance at all.

 

[flutterbee]

I've never had supplemental insurance, so I'll let someone else answer that.

Regarding the dental insurance, though, unless you or your covered dependents have a lot of cavities, root canals that kind of thing you really don't get much out of it. They don't cover much on braces and have a waiting period and sometimes won't let you cancel for a certain period after they've paid for some of the bigger expenses. It would be probably more economical to pay into a Flexible Spending Account (FSA - which is where they deduct money from your paychex pre-tax and then you submit receipts and medical bills to get reimbursed - even a lot of OTC drugs are covered) if your work offers such a plan. Otherwise, I'd just sock that money aside into an interest bearing savings account. If you do use an FSA, plan wisely because you only get reimbursed for what you have receipts for. So if you have $1,000 taken out of your paycheck over the course of a year and only have $900 in covered expenses, you're out $100. There is a maximum amount you are allowed to have withheld annually and with the amount of extra medical bills you mentioned, you shouldn't have to worry about being out any money.

If that made zero sense, I'll try again. Brain is really foggy, atm.