I have come across, almost
by accident, a small cache
of websites of interest to
all Veterans who are looking
to supplement their existing
health coverages, or to
otherwise reduce their liabilities
where they have no coverage
at all.

I think I was more surprised
that no dentist or the like
had ever told me about these
supplemental plans leaving me
to find them by myself through
a series of Google searches
on the Internet. Nonetheless,
since I have now located these,
I thought it to be an important
topic of interest to all
Veterans, especially those
of the low income variety
or those with "gap" insurances
of things covered and other
things NOT.

If you have ever had the
sudden need for a dentist
then you know what the
sticker shock is when
you go to check out from
an emergency filling
or root canal or whatever.

So leading off with the
Dental subject, I found
2 programs of interest
to Veterans and it's
important to keep both
of these program types
distinctly separate so
as to not make a mistake
when you place your order
to become a member.

In the Dental arena there
are 2 rescue programs for
either individuals or
families. One is called
Dental Insurance and
the other is called a
Dental Discount Plan.

You can find both at:
http://www.consumerbenefits.net
and scroll downward on the
page after you get there.

The 2 plans are NOT the
same so be sure you have both
plans straight in your head
before ordering.

The Dental Discount Plan for
Individuals costs $8.95 a month,
or $89.95 a year, and it can
bring in big savings on your
upcoming dental bills from
20% to 60%. It's a membership
and nothing more, and there
are no payments made to any
dentist. You first have to
do a Provider Search using the
LINKS at the website to find
out which providers accept
the Discount Plan in your area.
Then you make it known that
you are a member in the plan
once you arrive for your treatment.

For the particuluar offering
at Consumer Benefits, the one
discount plan for Dental also
applies to Eye Vision care too.
One monthly member price for
both benefits.

The billing rates for most
services are YES posted on
the website which you can
print out on your printer.

The Dental Insurance is a little
more complicated and I am guessing
here that this would be paid
to your Dentist. They are boasting
a typical savings of $1,200 per
year in dental bills, but look
out there is a $50 deductable
before you can start reaping
the rewards of the plan.

In other words, what I am telling
you here is that you no longer
have to be tied to an Employers
Dental Plan at the workplace
to receive these 2 rescue programs.

There was a second and related
website place that I found
which had even larger offerings
which included a discount
pharmacy plan, a funeral planning
program which offered discounts
on caskets and overall funeral
expenses in your area, and a
short list of other medical
discount plans.

That other website which is
related to the first one I
gave is at:

http://www.careington.com
One website tends to lead
to the other one, but the
offerings between both
are markedly different.

Here is another thing to know
about........

There is now something called
Patient Financing that
I found at Google.com and
that seems to cover the 2-part
world of large Dental costs
OR Elective Surgery.

Unicorn and Citibank offers
a Health Card which is recognized
by many dentists and again you
have to do a search for your
area to find out who the participating
Providers are. The Patient
Financing cards work a little
something like this and you
really do need to think this
over to see if it is right
for you:

You apply for it similarly
to a regular credit card, but
if approved, you can place
no-interest charges on your
card with limited term financing.
If you default or are late
with your payments however,
watch out --- the interest
baloons to around 22% finance
charges etc.

I would only recommend this
to those Veterans who use
electronic payment plans
and are absolutely certain
they are never late for
their billing payments as
a usual course of running
your household.

The length of the credit
typically runs 6 months,
12 months, or 18 months
and you have to match that
up to your Provider that
you have chosen and check
what their terms are at
the website.

There is, a good feature
at the website for this to
calculate in advance what
your estimated Dental or
Surgery bill might be in
terms of monthly payments
if you take on that kind
of charge. You can run
estimate models such as
$1,200 dental bill for
a 12 month payment plan
and the calculator will
come back and tell you
what those monthly payments
will be in advance.

You can mix up your own
searches at Google.com
using such search terms
as: "patient financing"
or "dental discount"
or "dental insurance" etc.
whatever floats your boat.

But Veterans need to know
that times are changing
in this new program arena
for sure, and Veterans
do have new financial
and service rescue options
to take advantage of to
either supplement the
gaps in their VA or
military care, or even
in gaps in their Social
Security care.

Nobody will walk up and
tell you about these,
but it is certainly good
news for Veterans who
have a health crisis and
need a little help with
anticipated expenses and
don't have a regular credit
card.

There used to be a time
when you had to belong to
elder groups such as AARP
to access these kinds of
benefit programs, but that
is not true anymore. It's
a wide open subject on the
Internet, and I just gave
to you 2 website places
where you can get started.

Good luck.