Statutory health insurance companies have recently started paying a higher fixed subsidy for dentures. What does that mean in euros? How patients can save with dental auctions and supplementary insurance. This video is an excerpt from the broadcast on November 10, 2020, see: • Video More information about the broadcast on our homepage: http://www.swr.de/marktcheck and on our Facebook page / marktcheck You can subscribe to our channel here: https://bit.ly/34ebysh You can find out more about our Ökocheckers on Instagram: / oekochecker Comments are welcome - but please observe the netiquette: http://www.swr.de/netiquette Since October 1, the share of costs paid by statutory health insurance companies has increased from 50 to 60 percent of standard care. Anyone who can prove that they regularly attend their annual check-up can increase the share to 70 percent with a bonus booklet that goes back five years without any gaps, and even to 75 percent of standard care after ten years. Standard care is basic care that covers all necessary services and is used as the basis for calculation by health insurance companies. The amount for standard care depends on the diagnosis. In return, the health insurance company pays the percentage of standard care, the fixed subsidy. The patient can use this amount for a dental prosthesis solution of their choice. If they choose a more expensive solution, they have to cover the additional costs themselves. The following always applies: the invoice amount minus the fixed subsidy equals the patient's own contribution. HOW DO DENTAL PROSTHESES AUCTIONS WORK? Numerous portals offer auctions on the Internet where patients can search for inexpensive offers from dentists. To do this, they must enter the treatment and cost plan drawn up for the treatment on the website and specify a radius for the dental practices. The request is published anonymously and dentists can apply with their own cost estimates. This procedure is not a classic auction. Patients are not forced to accept the lowest offer. They can decide based on their own criteria. HOW DO THE LOW PRICES COME ABOUT? The savings are achieved primarily through cost reductions in material and laboratory prices. The dentist's fee usually remains at the same level. In our example, the patient can reduce her own contribution of more than 4,000 euros by almost 1,700 euros. Dentist Daniel Tandon explains this as follows: "We do everything ourselves. It all stays in one hand. From model production to scanning to working out the model to modeling ceramics. We don't need an outside contractor for this. This saves us a huge amount of money and we can pass it on one-to-one." HOW EXPENSIVE IS THE AUCTION FOR PATIENTS? Depending on the platform provider, patients may incur costs for the auction. The "2nd Dentist Opinion" portal charges tiered brokerage fees of between 2.50 and 7.50 euros, depending on the treatment costs. Some health insurance companies work with the portal. The service is free for their insured persons. Doctors also have to pay a fee to "2nd Dentist Opinion". If a doctor takes on a case, he must pay ten percent of the bid as a commission to the portal operator. DO I HAVE TO FEAR POOR QUALITY? Consumers do not have to worry about poor quality, because only qualified dentists can make offers. In some cases, there is even a requirement that they may only work with German laboratories. Savings are made elsewhere - on materials. In some cases, an alternative treatment method is suggested. Patients have to be careful here, because in such cases, the comparison with the original treatment and cost plan is no longer possible. With the help of experts, you should carefully consider which form of therapy is the most suitable and not go for the lowest offer for cost reasons. WHAT SHOULD I CONSIDER AT AUCTIONS FOR DENTURES? • Provide as much information as possible about the necessary treatment and the previous treatment and cost plan. Only then can dentists respond with realistic offers. • Set the radius for the doctors generously, but still pay attention to accessibility, otherwise the savings will quickly be used up again due to high travel costs for multiple appointments. • Speaking of distance: Patients are entitled to free follow-up treatment if this is necessary. However, this entitlement only applies to the dentist who performed the denture treatment. If the dentist is far away, patients have the choice between a long journey or having to cover the treatment costs at their local dentist themselves. Author: Nina Rathfelder Image source: Unsplash/Rudi Fargo #Dentures #Auction #Saving