How do so many lower income families afford braces for their teens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A shady dentist will tell anyone they have a severe overbite or underbite.

....and risk being charged with Medicaid fraud? Does it happen? Probably. Is it common? Probably not.

Because most DCUM posters are not going to these crappy dentists nor are we going to the crappy doctors that hand out prescriptions for painkillers like candy for a fee. I've seen both where I grew up.

I grew up in the a** end of Methville, Idaho and here's a thing that taught me - Medicaid requires an enormous amount of paperwork and justification for coverage. Fraud, particularly for something like this, is just not worth it for the provider or the patient. The cost margin isn't high enough for the provider, and the upside isn't high enough for the patient (no one is addicted to braces).

i

maybe not in methville, but I'm from a major city where there's a whole second tier of dental providers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they budget and save better than you do?

CNN says 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense, but low-income families have thousands laying around for (sometimes multiple) kids to get braces? Something doesn't add up.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-household-finances/index.html

Again, how do you know how much money these parents make and how much their expenses are?

Please read the thread, as this has been answered. The girls qualify for $80 YMCA league fee waivers and if their parents work, it's low-paid entry level service industry gigs.

How do you know they get fee waivers?

[Anonymous]

OP what do the families say when you've asked them how they can afford braces? Because you have asked them, right? Since you are so curious. Not sure why you're asking DCUM. Do you think any of those families are reading this and will answer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:They probably get it for “free” (#yourepayingforit).

Okay, how? I don’t want to pay another $7k.

The same way they qualify for their food stamps. They don’t work.

Many people on food stamps actually work minimum wage jobs. Maybe if states raised their minimum wages more people could get off food stamps. That was a novel idea floated by a wealthy R in CA.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

Raising min wage will only make braces (among other things) more expensive for the rest of us.

Op this is just another example of how the middle class loses. We make too much to qualify for assistance yet too little to easily afford things like braces.

OK, so don't raise the minimum wage, don't provide welfare, don't help poor people at all. Let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps?

Isn't this a similar argument for illegal immigrant workers? They pick your produce for dirt cheap so you can afford organic strawberries, but if we raise wages because American workers won't take these jobs for $10/hr, then we'd have to raise the price of food. Should we do that, too?

Basically, yes let them pull themselves up and work for a better life. That’s what we had to do. No one was giving me free handouts. I’ve worked my butt off since I was 16!

But you don't want to raise wages because that would mean paying more for your food, right?

Many poor people have worked since they were teens, too.. myself included. I now make six figures.. have done so for 20 years.

[Anonymous]

Not all dental insurance covers orthodontia so you can’t assume insurance will cover a portion.

However, if the parents are divorced and each have dental insurance that does cover it, it can be almost free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They probably get it for “free” (#yourepayingforit).

??? I've never heard of an orthodontist providing free braces. And how do you figure you're paying for it? What a bizarre answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re a two parent house, college educated, decent careers. Even with supposed good insurance we really struggled to pay for braces for our two oldest. My youngest daughter plays on a cheap YMCA sports league and it seems basically every lower income teen her age has braces. Meanwhile we’re still saving $ to put her in braces. Where do they all find the $ for orthodontia? I’m at a loss as to how this is possible.

Wow. Just wow. I hope you are not a parent on my team. Your entitlement ...

+1. Ever think those parents never go on vacation or dress their kids from consignment shops? They most likely do without a lot of things you consider necessities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who the heck in DC is putting on braces for $3K?

Our DC needs 18 monthe of simple realignment and we were quoted $8K in NWDC

I'd get a second opinion - that is outrageous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP what do the families say when you've asked them how they can afford braces? Because you have asked them, right? Since you are so curious. Not sure why you're asking DCUM. Do you think any of those families are reading this and will answer?

My parents chose which of us had worse teeth. My brother. I did not get braces. Don’t be so sure all the kids in one family are, OP. People do what they can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP what do the families say when you've asked them how they can afford braces? Because you have asked them, right? Since you are so curious. Not sure why you're asking DCUM. Do you think any of those families are reading this and will answer?

My parents chose which of us had worse teeth. My brother. I did not get braces. Don’t be so sure all the kids in one family are, OP. People do what they can do.

My sister got braces and I didn't.


As an adult, I went to the best orthodontist in NW DC and got clear braces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all dental insurance covers orthodontia so you can’t assume insurance will cover a portion.

However, if the parents are divorced and each have dental insurance that does cover it, it can be almost free.

Insurance companies won’t give double coverage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They probably get it for “free” (#yourepayingforit).

??? I've never heard of an orthodontist providing free braces. And how do you figure you're paying for it? What a bizarre answer.

This poster right here ^^^ is what they mean when they talk about low information voters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They probably get it for “free” (#yourepayingforit).

Okay, how? I don’t want to pay another $7k.

The same way they qualify for their food stamps. They don’t work.

Many people on food stamps actually work minimum wage jobs. Maybe if states raised their minimum wages more people could get off food stamps. That was a novel idea floated by a wealthy R in CA.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

Raising min wage will only make braces (among other things) more expensive for the rest of us.

Op this is just another example of how the middle class loses. We make too much to qualify for assistance yet too little to easily afford things like braces.

OK, so don't raise the minimum wage, don't provide welfare, don't help poor people at all. Let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps?

Isn't this a similar argument for illegal immigrant workers? They pick your produce for dirt cheap so you can afford organic strawberries, but if we raise wages because American workers won't take these jobs for $10/hr, then we'd have to raise the price of food. Should we do that, too?

Basically, yes let them pull themselves up and work for a better life. That’s what we had to do. No one was giving me free handouts. I’ve worked my butt off since I was 16!

But you don't want to raise wages because that would mean paying more for your food, right?

Many poor people have worked since they were teens, too.. myself included. I now make six figures.. have done so for 20 years.

New poster. It annoys me when supposedly educated people don’t understand how markets work. Below cost pricing is actually a key sign of an antitrust violation. If you raise all wages, the cost of basic goods and services goes up too. It is built in to prices. It is a naive suggestion for fixing inequality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They probably get it for “free” (#yourepayingforit).

Nobody is getting braces for free.

I know the state of MD is paying for at least one kid I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re a two parent house, college educated, decent careers. Even with supposed good insurance we really struggled to pay for braces for our two oldest. My youngest daughter plays on a cheap YMCA sports league and it seems basically every lower income teen her age has braces. Meanwhile we’re still saving $ to put her in braces. Where do they all find the $ for orthodontia? I’m at a loss as to how this is possible.

I'm struggling to understand how you can't come up with $3K - before insurance.

If you have two incomes, and decent careers - where is all of your income going.

Two years of braces and everything is not $3k - more like $5k+. And even if it was, that’s more than their car is worth, in some cases.

then you're getting royally ripped off.

+1. Orthodontists have the best gig going. https://www.thejobnetwork.com/high-paying-low-stress-jobs-012017/ I never hear anyone complain about his or her orthodontist apart from the cost.