VADIP or Medicare Advantage Dental? A Veteran's 2027 Guide

By Anthony Orner, Licensed Medicare Insurance Broker (NPN 20586791), licensed in NJ and 33 other states. Sources: VA and GAO (eligibility), Delta Dental's 2026 VADIP rates (checked 2026-10-13), CMS 2027 plan files dated 2026-10-03.

VADIP Prime, Delta Dental's VA dental insurance plan with a $3,000 yearly maximum, starts at $39.79 a month in 2026. Medicare Advantage dental can cost nothing extra: in the CMS 2027 files for the 34 states we are licensed in, 389 plans pair a $0 premium with a dental maximum of $3,000 or more. They come from 31 companies, as CMS lists them: Aetna Medicare, Alignment Health Plan, Arkansas Blue Medicare, BayCare Health Plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, Champion Heath Plan, Cox HealthPlans, Devoted Health, Florida Blue HMO, HealthSpring, HealthSun Health Plans, Inc., Healthy Arkansas, Inc., Healthy Mississippi, Inc., Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield or Highmark Blue Shield, Humana, Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc., Jefferson Health Plans, Leon Health, Inc., Network Health Medicare Advantage Plans, Peak Health, Peoples Health, Perennial Advantage, Prominence Health Plan, SCAN Health Plan, Select Health, Solis Health Plans, UnitedHealthcare, UPMC for Life, Wellcare and Wellpoint.

Those are the two routes veterans on Medicare ask us about most, because VA dental care itself reaches about 26% of enrolled veterans, by VA's count as of February 2026 (GAO-26-108467). The other 74% get no dental care from the VA. Standalone dental insurance and, for people who qualify, Medicaid dental are the other options.

Who Gets Dental Care From the VA

VA dental care goes by class, set in 38 CFR 17.161. Being enrolled in VA health care is not enough on its own. The classes most veterans ask about:

• Class I: a service-connected dental condition with disability compensation. Any dental care needed.
• Class IV: a 100% schedular rating, or unemployability paid at the 100% rate. Any dental care needed. A temporary 100% rating, such as during a hospital stay, does not count.
• Former prisoners of war: any dental care needed.
• Recently discharged: a one-time course of care if you apply within 180 days of discharge and your separation exam did not show the work done.
• Class VI: dental care for a condition that complicates a medical condition the VA is treating.

A 50% or 90% rating does not open VA dental by itself. The VA dental page lists every class. If you are in one, you may not need dental coverage from anywhere else.

What VADIP Costs

VADIP is private dental insurance from Delta Dental or MetLife, sold at a group rate to veterans enrolled in VA health care and to CHAMPVA members. You pay the whole premium; the VA pays nothing toward it. Delta Dental's 2026 plans:

Premiums rise with your ZIP code and with each person you add. Root canals, gum treatment and oral surgery also wait 9 months on all three plans. New members sign up for 12 months, then go month to month (Delta Dental's VADIP rates). Joining does not affect VA dental care if you later qualify for it.

Part B Does Not Pay Your Dentist

Original Medicare does not cover cleanings, fillings, extractions, dentures or implants (Medicare.gov). It pays only in narrow medical cases, such as dental work during a covered hospital stay. A Medigap policy adds nothing for dental.

So the Part B premium buys no dental on its own. What it does is make you eligible for a Medicare Advantage plan. You keep paying Part B in either case. Of the 2027 plans in our states, 99% give every member at least preventive dental, and 71% charge a $0 premium.

What 2027 Medicare Advantage Dental Pays

We read every individual plan's 2027 filing with CMS in our 34 states: 2,898 plans. 2,510 of them (87%) give every member comprehensive dental, meaning fillings, crowns and more, not just cleanings. 2,142 file one plain yearly maximum, and the middle one is $1,750.

A maximum is what the plan pays in a year, not what the work costs you. Plans still charge coinsurance; in KFF's review of 2021 plans, 50% was the most common share for fillings, extractions and root canals. Check four things on any plan: the yearly maximum, the coinsurance on major work, whether your dentist is in its dental network, and whether implants are covered at all.

VADIP and a $0 Plan, Side by Side

When Dental Is Not a Reason to Switch

• You have a Medigap policy. An Advantage plan replaces it, and in most states getting it back means answering health questions. VADIP keeps your Medigap intact.
• You have TRICARE For Life. It still pays after an Advantage plan, but those claims do not cross over, so you file them with TRICARE yourself.
• You are in VA dental Class I or IV. The VA already covers the dental care you need.
• Medicaid pays your Part B. Ask about plans built for people with both Medicare and Medicaid instead.
• Your civilian doctors are not in the plan's network. Outside emergencies, an Advantage plan pays by its network rules.

Several large insurers trimmed dental for 2027, according to an analyst review of Plan Finder reported by Healthcare Dive on October 1, 2026. If you are in a plan now, read the Annual Notice of Change it mailed you before you renew.

Methodology. Plan counts and dental maximums come from the CMS 2027 Plan Benefit Package and Medicare Advantage Landscape files (dated 2026-10-03) for individual HMO, HMO-POS, PPO, PFFS and Regional PPO plans in the states we are licensed in, each plan counted once. A dental maximum is counted only when the plan files one yearly amount for comprehensive dental that is not pooled with other benefits; plans that pool it, or file it another way, are left out of the maximum figures. VADIP prices are Delta Dental's one-person 2026 rates; MetLife also sells VADIP plans.

EasyKind Medicare is an independent brokerage. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicare or any government agency. Last updated: October 2026.