Handelman Insurance Advisors, Inc.

Group Dental Insurance

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is one of the largest and most experienced health insurance companies in the state, serving residents and businesses in Illinois & providing more than 6.5 million members with comprehensive and affordable health & dental insurance plans. As a division of Health Care Service Corporation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois provides its members with a high level of confidence and security.

Handelman Insurance Advisors, Inc. is an independent producer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.

BlueCare Dental HMO encourages your employees to maintain good dental health by offering full coverage for preventive and diagnostic care.

• Employees must select a contracting dentist to provide and coordinate dental care for them and their dependents.
• When they do, preventive and diagnostic care is covered at 100 percent. There is no deductible, no out-of-pocket cost and no claim forms.
• They will typically pay less for dental services with a dental HMO than they would with another type of dental plan.
• BlueCare Dental HMO offers a network that is one of the largest in Illinois.
• Dentists in the BlueCare Dental HMO network have agreed to accept lower, predetermined fees for their services.
• This allows Blue Cross to offer an HMO dental plan option with competitive premiums & savings for employers and their employees

Dental PPO offers one of the largest dental networks in Illinois, and the national network includes more than 57, 000 contracting general and specialty dental providers.

In a PPO plan, costs are typically reduced when members receive care from network providers. Dentists in the DPPO network have agreed to pre-determined fees for their services. The plan’s Schedule of Maximum Allowances (SMA), on average, is lower than usual fees. Because of this, Blue Cross is able to offer dental plans with:

• competitive premiums
• savings for employers and their employees
• out of network claims paid at SMA or Usual and Customary (U&C)

Employers and employees realize the most savings when care is received from PPO dentists. Employees pay less out-of-pocket and will not be balanced billed. They can also see any dental specialist within the network without a referral.

Dental Freedom PPO- Benefit level is the same for both network and non-network dentists. Out-of-network dental services are paid at U&C (Usual & Customary).

Dental Choice PPO- Available in two different benefit structures. Both benefit plan options pay network dentist at SMA; however, one plan pays out-of-network dentists at SMA and the other pays at U&C.

With either plan option, employees have the freedom to select a dentist from outside the network and still be covered. When the plan pays non-PPO dentists at U&C, the employer savings are less, employees are balanced billed and their out-of-pocket costs are slightly higher.