PPO dental plans often come with annual maximums, which are just what they sound like: the maximum amount of money your plan pays for covered dental services in a benefit year. If you go over this threshold, you’d pay for any remaining services out of pocket. That said, many people don’t meet their annual maximum. So, what happens to it? Is that money just gone? Not necessarily! Depending on your policy, some of that money may “roll over” to the following year, which means you’ll have more dollars at your disposal for future dental procedures. Let’s break down how this works.
What is a rollover policy?
Each year, your dental plan covers a certain dollar amount in claims (how much depends on your specific plan). With some Beam plans, when you use less than half of this annual maximum, a portion of it will “roll over” to the next year. This means it’s added to the following year’s annual maximum, giving you more flexibility to pay for your dental care.
What do you have to do? Nothing! Beam’s rollover will occur automatically at the beginning of the next plan period as long as you received at least one covered dental service (e.g., dental cleaning) during the current benefit year.*
How might the rollover work?
Let’s use an example. Say your plan’s annual maximum is $1,000, but you only use $200 in claims this year. You’re eligible for a rollover because you used less than half ($500) of the money available to you! Beam will take one-fourth of your annual maximum and add it to the following year — in this case, that’s $250. Next year’s annual maximum would now be $1,250, assuming you keep the same plan.
Rollover amounts can accumulate over multiple benefit years. If you again use less than half of the annual maximum next year, you’ll be eligible for another rollover the following year. You’ll get another $250 added to your annual maximum, bringing it to $1,500 (annual max + this year’s rollover + next year’s rollover). However, these cumulative rollovers are eventually capped when they reach a certain amount, which would depend on your plan.
Here are some examples of what that may look like:
*Actual coverage and costs may vary. Check your dental plan to see what services may be covered.
