If you ask somebody what’s on the top of their mind come Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s season, it’s often the food, the parties, the gifts, and maybe some family drama. If you throw a phrase like “health savings account” or “flexible spending account” at them, you might get some glazed eyes. But HSAs aren’t something to put on the back burner and deal with after the holiday haze wears off—it’s time to think about our dental treatments and how to get the most bang for our bucks.

Insurance and FSAs: Use It or Lose It

When it comes to dental insurance, most plans reset on the 1st of each year. This means that any unused benefits will be lost. This means money in the pocket of your insurance company instead of providing healthy, strong teeth for you and your family! While you might think that this would motivate people to make the most of their dental insurance, often, people do simply get their biannual cleanings and allow any other benefits their plan might offer to fall by the wayside. Root canals, fillings—there are a variety of other treatments that your insurance may cover, but many people simply allow the end of the year to come and go without taking advantage of those benefits.

The same is true of flexible spending accounts, known as FSAs. These accounts can utilize pre-tax dollars to help you pay for dental expenses. Just like insurance, however, at the end of the year, any unused money is wasted. We here at Augusta Family Dental want to make sure that you get the most for your money. So now, we’ll turn to one option that may help you make the most of your finances.

The Difference with HSA Benefits

Maybe you’re not someone who is letting unused insurance benefits or FSA money go to waste. Maybe you have already met your maximum—the most your insurance company will cover on your dental expenses for the year. In that case, you might be more interested in the what, why and how of HSA benefits. For those who aren’t familiar with the phrase, HSA just stands for Health Savings Accounts. These accounts allow you to deposit pre-tax dollars and use that money to pay for dental expenses throughout the year.

What’s different about an HSA? With FSAs and with most insurance benefits, as we discussed, it’s a use-it-or-lose-it situation. But with an HSA, “any money you don’t use for dental expenses in a given year automatically rolls over to the next year. It’s like your HSA is a magical savings account that keeps your funds safe and ready to use when you need them for dental

treatments. The best part? You don’t have to do anything special for this to happen; it’s the default setup.

This dentistry explains the situation perfectly. Unlike most dental plans, benefits, coverage, and even FSAs (which many people confuse with HSAs), the money your store in your HSA will roll over. You do have to have a high-deductible health plan in order to get an HSA. However, for someone who doesn’t have the money to cover unexpected dental expenses or wants the tax advantages, an HSA might be helpful.

Expenses commonly covered by an HSA include:

Sealants

Extractions

Braces

Dentures

Fillings

Fluoride Treatments

Teeth Cleaning

X-Rays

HSAs do not typically cover cosmetic procedures such as teeth whitening.

Maximizing Benefits Before the End of the Year

Hopefully, you are equipped with a better understanding of the ways of paying for dental expenses, especially health savings accounts. Be intentional about maximizing any benefits that your coverage offers you before the end of the year, since most plans (except for HSAs) expire at the end of the calendar year. A few tips to keep in mind as you do:

· Avoid fee increases. Insurance companies have to keep up with rising prices, too. They may increase prices for their clients, and often, these increases come at the beginning of the year. This is just another reason why the perfect time to use up your HSA, FSA, or dental insurance benefits would be the end of the year—before these price hikes take effect.

· Know that we can work with you. You may hesitate to pile on treatments at the end of the year, thinking that you’re getting close to your annual insurance maximum. Even if that’s the case, we can work with you! We want you to get the most out of your insurance. We can create a plan to split the treatment between the end of this year and next, taking advantage of the renewal of benefits next year to use your insurance to its fullest potential.