Plan Benefits & Rates
Dental Plan
How the dental plan works:
The Dental Plan, underwritten by MetLife, pays benefits for three categories of service:
- Type A — Preventive,
- Type B — Basic Restorative and;
- Type C — Major Restorative.
Please reference the section entitled “Primary Covered Services” in the Dental Plan brochure for detail of these services.
The plan also offers you a choice; you may use a participating dentist (in-network) or you may use an out-of-network dentist. If you choose to receive services from a participating dentist, you will generally receive the greater benefit and incur the least out-of-pocket expense. If you use a participating dentist, the plan provides paid-in-full benefits for Type A services. You will have out-of-pocket costs for Type B and Type C services provided by participating dentists .If you use an out-of-network dentist, you generally will have higher out-of-pocket costs for all types of service.
Plan Details
You can help alleviate the added cost with MetLife Dental Insurance.
Plan Benefit Details
Monthly Rates
The following monthly rates are effective through December 31, 2024:
| Enrollee | Monthly Rate |
|---|---|
| Member Only | $51.20 |
| Member + 1 | $114.04 |
| Member + Family | $142.05 |
Payment Methods
Select your payment method by completing the “Authorization Agreement for Dental Insurance Payments” form on the enroll page. You can select from:
- In-Service Members Only: Payroll Deductions
- Retired Members Only: Automatic monthly pension deduction (available if you are collecting a monthly pension benefit from the NYSTRS, NYSLRS, NYCTRS, or BERS, or if you are receiving income from a monthly lifetime annuity from TIAA).
- Direct Billing & ACH Options apply to both In-Service and Retired Members
Retired Members:
- Annual billing: You will be charged a $12.00 service fee per billing cycle (1 payment per year).
- Semi-annual billing: You will be charged a $9.00 service fee per billing cycle (2 payments per year).
- Quarterly billing: You will be charged a $6.00 service fee per billing cycle (4 payment per year).
Payroll deduction is available in local associations that have made the necessary payroll deduction arrangements for NYSUT Member Benefits-endorsed programs.
If you select payroll or pension deduction, there are no service fees.
Find a Dentist
Our extensive network has thousands of dental providers to choose from. Who's the best fit for you? Select "Search" to go to the Find a Dentist tool, choose your network and enter your ZIP code for a list of participating dentists.
Enroll today
Enroll now1 In Network is when you or your eligible dependent visit a participating dentist, plan benefits are based on a negotiated fee schedule. You will be responsible for the difference between the negotiated fee*** for a given service and the percentage of the fee that your plan covers for that service, subject to any deductibles.
2 Out-of-Network is when you or your eligible dependent visit a non-participating dentist, plan benefits are based on the Reasonable and Customary (R&C) charges of dentists in your area as determined by MetLife. You will be responsible for the difference between your dentist’s charge for a given service and the percentage of Reasonable and Customary fee that your plan covers, subject to any deductibles.
3 Negotiated Fees refers to the fees that in-network dentists have agreed to accept as payment in full for covered services, subject to any co-payments, deductibles, cost sharing and benefits maximums. Negotiated Fees are typically 15% to 45% below community averages. Negotiated Fees are subject to change.
4 R&C fee refers to the Reasonable and Customary R&C charge, which is based on the lowest of 1. the dentist’s actual charge, 2. the dentist’s usual charge for the same or similar services or 3. the usual charge of most dentists in the same geographic area for the same or similar services as determined by MetLife.