United States Healthcare Reform and Dental Tourism

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In the past, the driving force behind the relatively high levels of dental tourism has been people that are faced with the absence of adequate dental insurance. About a half of all Americans are without insurance right now, dental procedures are not covered under Medicare benefits, and this has led many Americans to travel abroad in order to get proper dental treatments.

This issue is further exasperated by the fact that many dental insurance policies only cover bare minimum treatments and procedures, labeling them as basic procedures, and such policies barely give any coverage for costly or cosmetic dental treatments.

In general, the average policy will have a yearly cap equivalent to $1500 or more which can be used up rapidly if a patient needs tooth restructuring, a crown, several extractions, a cap, or a root canal.

The entire insurance mess leaves both dentists and patients in a real quandary; dentists often steer away from insurance issues all together while proper dental insurance opens the door for people to get adequate dental care.

Meanwhile, patients with no insurance often steer away from going to the dentist at all because they simply cannot afford any dental treatment. Those that can afford dental treatments, in turn, travel abroad for less expensive dental care.

One might wonder how dentistry abroad can save a patient money. In truth, people seeking dental care are willing to travel to places in Europe and across the border into Mexico and Canada to get lower costing dental treatments.

The savings derived make up for any type of travel expenses one incurs in doing so. Some dental procedures are offered for hundreds, even thousands of dollars less in foreign countries, and Americans are definitely willing to travel for basic dental needs and for cosmetic dental procedures.

So, how will the United States healthcare reform influence the state of dental tourism? The plans that the United States Congress has for reforming healthcare could potentially lead to patients that are still more willing to travel in order to receive dental care. The latter fact is especially true if elective procedures are not classified as basic, necessary, or standard benefits in the plan, and if there is a cap of two thousand dollars put on expenditure flex accounts.

While some individuals may be more willing to travel abroad to find the least expensive dental care, the incoming dental tourism will also be greatly affected. The growth of incoming dental tourism will be slowed, and while it will continue to increase over the long term, the increase rate will be hindered by the regulations set forth in the new healthcare reform plan should it pass.

Dental tourism may be increased, even in the light of healthcare reform. When people need elective dental work performed, they are bound to seek out the least expensive option, especially in light of today’s economy. If healthcare reform measures put a cap on expenditure accounts and the elective dental procedures are not classified as basic or necessary benefits, dental tourism will continue to thrive.