/ Employers Guide to Oral Health for Total Health
Oral Health for Total Health
HMSA is committed to delivering innovative health plans and programs that improve the quality of life of the people in our communities. Through our Oral Health for Total HealthSM program, our dental and medical plans work together to help your employees live healthier. This can help increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lower medical and dental costs for you and your employees.
Better health for employees — lower costs for everyone
Good oral health habits can help you stay out of the hospital, be healthier, and save money, especially if you have a condition that’s affected by oral health. Researchers found preventive dental care can save businesses and their employees thousands of dollars by improving total health and reducing medical claims.
In the video below, Dr. Stefanie Park, HMSA’s chief medical officer, discusses the findings of a recent Mayo Clinic study that validated the importance of programs like Oral Health for Total Health.
Eligible employees enrolled in Oral Health for Total Health receive additional, condition-specific dental benefits valued at more than $1,000. These benefits are covered 100% with no out-of-pocket expenses when members see a participating dentist. The benefits don’t count toward the calendar year maximum, and there are no waiting periods. The program includes member education and ties dental into HMSA care coordination programs.
| Two additional cleanings or periodontal maintenance visits, plus: |
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Eligible medical conditions | Periodontal scaling covered 100% | Enhanced cleaning to remove excess plaque buildup | Oral health screenings; fluoride treatments | Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) | | | |
Coronary artery disease (CAD) | | | |
Diabetes (DM) | | | |
End-stage renal disease (ESRD) | | | |
Head and neck cancers (HNC) | | | |
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) | | | |
Oral cancer (OC) | | | |
Pregnancy (PG) | | | |
Sjogren’s syndrome (SjS) | | | |
Stroke (CVA) | | | |
The benefits of automatic enrollment
When you offer your employees medical and dental plans from HMSA, we can automatically enroll eligible employees who may otherwise not enroll. Automatic enrollment into a medical-dental integration program like Oral Health for Total Health (which is based on medical claims) is key to realizing cost savings. Our medical and dental plans work together, so we can identify high-risk members and proactively help them understand and use the program’s services.
Employees who have only an HMSA dental plan can self-enroll.
We encourage you to help your employees understand the value of this program so that those who can benefit most from it can get on the road to better total health.