There are many reasons why one should not care about the bonus booklet. On the one hand, it reminds you that everyone should do something to keep their teeth healthy, and do it regularly. On the other hand, the bonus booklet helps to save money. What this means exactly, we explain here:
Every member of the statutory health insurance – and also the co-insured family members – should have a bonus booklet. For most members, it has long been a matter of course to carry proof in their wallets that is no larger than an identity card.
Already since 1989 the bonus booklet is a proof for regular tooth visit and was introduced by the “Gesundheitsformgesetzt”. Nowadays, it should rather be an exception if a patient has not yet heard of the booklet. If you still do not have a booklet, you should urgently ask the dentist the next time you visit the dentist.
Does the bonus booklet bring more money from the health insurance?
No patient is obliged to keep a bonus booklet, but every member of the statutory health insurance fund is entitled to one. In fact, a regular booklet is worth cash. If a bridge, a crown or removable prostheses become necessary, this makes itself felt, because then the health insurance company rewards the fact that one visited the control dates regularly. If a dental prosthesis becomes necessary, the bonus booklet is worth cash in case of need. However, it should be noted that not only because of the financial benefits one should regularly go to the dentist: The focus should be on your own oral health and keeping your teeth healthy for as long as possible, because no dental prosthesis can be as good as the original.
How does the bonus booklet work?
According to the legal situation, the patient receives an extra subsidy (bonus) with a regularly updated bonus booklet in addition to the normal subsidy from a health insurance company. Here, however, occasional check-ups are not sufficient, but regular examinations must have taken place. Regular in this case means that over a period of five years, regular examinations are proven without gaps. Then the fixed subsidy for dental prosthesis increases by 20 percent. The subsidy is increased by 30 percent if these control examinations are proven in a period of more than 10 years.
There is a special prevention programme for children from the age of 6 and adolescents up to the age of 18. This programme requires children and adolescents to visit the dentist twice a year and includes various activities to prevent dental diseases. The prophylactic measure or the examination is bound to a fixed time rhythm. Costs for preventive treatment according to the IP program (individual prophylaxis) are covered by the health insurance.
According to the bonus regulation, patients older than 18 years should have been to the dentist for an examination at least once a year.
In the bonus booklet, the dentist either marks the “dental examination” of an adult or the “individual prophylaxis” of a child or adolescent. A dentist’s stamp is used to record the day of the examination.
What to do if a stamp is missing?
If the bonus booklet does not contain proof of the examination, you should ask your dentist to add the stamp. However, you should not wait too long to add the stamp. For the stamp to be added, it is a prerequisite that the examination (adult) or prophylactic measures (children, adolescents) have been carried out during the period in question and that this is documented in the patient file.
It is important to know that it is your job to make sure you have an entry in the bonus booklet. The bonus regulation expires if the prescribed deadlines are not met. Thus, the patient cannot fall back on the advantages of the bonus booklet. In this case you have to start all over again, keep the appointments and wait five years.
The bonus booklet can’t be found, what to do?
To avoid this in the first place, give the bonus booklet a fixed place. As soon as you hear the word “dentist”, you should think of the word combination “dentist & bonus booklet”. If the bonus booklet cannot be found, the dentist will be able to help you, as the patient files will help you to understand the examinations and prophylactic treatments. Refilling a New Bonus Booklet is a costly action and should therefore remain the exception.
The bonus booklet is a great combination of memory and financial benefits – when a dental prosthesis becomes necessary. Your own oral health should always be in the foreground and the bonus booklet can support you in this. It is important that you take care of your teeth and get support from your dentist so that the original teeth can remain healthy for as long as possible.
If you have any questions about the bonus booklet or dental health, please contact us!