In another journal entry, I mentioned this type of dental benefits plan. Here's a link to the ADA Direct Reimbursment Page.

Direct Reimbursement (DR) is a benefits plan that directs the vast majority of premium dollars to actually providing treatment. It can work well for a smaller employer, costing less than a traditional dental "insurance" plan. All but about 2 or 3 dollars per claim go to paying claims, instead of going to marketing and claims processing and review and paperwork and whatever else the insurance companies can come up with to skim profits off the top of the premiums for a traditional plan.

The way it works is that a premium is paid, then the dollars from that premium go into an account to pay claims. When a covered employee has dental work done, he or she presents their paid receipt to the administrator, and a check is cut DIRECTLY TO THE PATIENT. The advantages are: Lower premiums, no limits on the usage of the premium dollars, all decisions on care are between the patient and the health care provider. One disadvantage are that usually in the first year or two of the plan's existence the maximum dollars available to pay claims is low, but this amount should go up as excess dollars accumulate in the plan.

The ADA website has calculators and such to see if it's a plan that would work for a specific business.

I'm just throwing this up here on the off chance that someone who might read this journal (I know, that's a long shot - probably not too many readers) (Thanks, Eric, if you're reading, for reading and commenting on my entries!) might also be in a position to bring such a plan to the attention of someone who is in a position to do something about it.

In my opinion, this is the right way to proceed on "health care reform" - put the actual dollars to use in providing actual health care instead of stock options and bonuses and such.