[Northendzone]

weird I can't seem to post using the quote feature - but iggy_oi the thing to remember is that with all things being equal in a dental group insurance plan the claims cost should decrease due to the implementation of the dental fee guide; however, the fee guide was announced after September and then finalized again in November or so. if an employers premium rates were set before the first fee guide was announced then the rates would have included an allowance for expected inflation due to new dental fees being implemented part way thru the plan year.

if the claims were more than the premium being paid, then the rates would need to go up just based on that.

there are several cost drivers in your group insurance plan that need to be taken into consideration. that is why premiums will just not drop because of this fee guide.

this thought has been mentioned several times in this thread, but to me the whole exercise of the NDP doing this is like lipstick on a pig - it will likely not really do anything with respect to dental costs - but dentoman would likely be able to provide more insight.

to be honest, I am surprised that dentists in other provinces have not decided to ditch their fee guides, as to me it (the dentists in alberta getting rid of the fee guide) seemed to really help their practices.

I will also note, that based on my anecdotal observations, everytime I go to the dentist, it seems they have some new technology that makes the process a little faster and less painful - so I get that dentists are constantly making investments in equipment.