Recommendations for Dental Coverage for Children (and Perhaps Supplemental Insurance)

Hello, I have always been reasonably healthy with somehow very healthy teeth – so I've thankfully managed to not gain much experience in life with health insurance, dental insurance, or high medical expenses. However, as a relatively new parent of young children – I am gobsmacked by how expensive things seem to be, and how little coverage my insurance plans seem to offer. Am I missing something?

For reference, I am a federal employee in Southern California. Single-income household with 3 kids ranging 0-5 years old. Currently enrolled in United Concordia Federal Dental Coverage (Standard), and contributing $3000/year to my HSA.

It seems like any time I take one of the kids to the dentist, estimates are in the thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for seemingly mundane things like cavities. Rationale I've heard, include: in-network dentists can't work on young children, general anesthesia is required and not covered, and even once I've found in-network care the estimates are still crazy high. Part of me wants to say that the kids are going to lose their baby teeth eventually – why even bother?

So is there some trick that I'm missing? I don't qualify for MediCal (household income is around $140k/yr). Can I (or should I) pay for a supplemental plan on top of one of the Federal Employee benefits? Is that even an option? Googling this seems to show nothing but adverts for different products – but the Covered California website says they have a $350/year out-of-pocket maximum. Can I stack Covered California with my federal benefits?

Thanks in advance!

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submitted by /u/xloud
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