Patch Blog: Moneyball and Dental Insurance

Moneyball

Okay, I saw the Brad Pitt baseball movie yesterday and it was so good it even inspired me to write about dental insurance. And…last week I did promise the Dalai Lama (during our virtual interview) I’d address the topic and nobody wants bad juju from a USC Trojan known as His Holiness.

I’m a total sucker for baseball movies. The Natural took me back to age twelve and the Knights of the Round Table. Freakin Field of Dreams has me crying like a baby sniffin’ onions during a smog alert every time I watch it. Eight Men Out and the Black Sox scandal cause me to reflect about stuff like maybe Dodger owner Frank McCourt really is an interesting guy…in a sleazy anachronistic sorta way.

The thing is baseball movies take me back. While good ole Kevin Costner had to plow under his corn field to play catch with his father, my dad hit me grounders in the backyard every day no matter what.

And just going to the movies puts me in touch with Mom. While my brother, dad, and I went to Sunday ballgames, Mom was super content doing Sunday matinees. When it was just Mom and me, Sundays meant the two of us doing a movie and dinner. I’d screen the films ahead of time for stuff like excess F-bombs and choose accordingly (unless Paul Newman was the guy in question. I give you: The Verdict.)

So when I go to baseball movies, I’m looking and listening for inspiration if the film isn’t Major League (you’d be surprised by what you can find when you’re open to looking.)

For me, baseball movies have the cinematic DNA from which metaphors are made. Singing Dental Assistant Kolleen will say “I told you so” but I’ll be danged if the power of Pitt didn’t inspire me to consider larger issues through a more transparent filter and with a renewed sense of purpose.

Moneyball starts with a quote from the great Mickey Mantle, “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about a game you’ve been playing your whole life.”

Sometimes being attached to tradition can be blinding. Bet it’s purely human doing things a certain comfortable way…until lousy results finally get too frustrating.

Moneyball recounts the way ballplayers had been historically evaluated. For the 2002 Oakland A’s, business as usual meant going broke or losing. And yet, when the general manager (Pitt) proposed changing the rules of engagement, he was condemned more than Barry Bonds swearin’ on a stack of bibles.

Hate to trump Mickey Mantle but Walter Lippman once wrote, “When we all think alike, then no one is thinking.”

Seeing my Mom go through the impersonal journey through our healthcare system forever changed my vision of a dental practice. Seemed like just when folks were their most vulnerable and looking for a warm dose of reassurance, there was only technology and treatment by the numbers.

I actually shed a tear watching Moneyball (even though I’m not an Oakland fan.) The story reminded me that we all have the stuff to stick to our ideals; it also reminded me I sometimes lose sight of our practice intention “Making a world class difference for others and making dentistry fun” when I get too caught up in being a small businessman instead of a leader.

The pre-Moneyball Oakland A’s don’t remind me of the dental insurance industry; they remind me of you and me, the care providers and consumers.

40% of Californians are uninsured. 50% of Americans don’t see a dentist on a regular basis. Patients with insurance benefits are often under-served.

Delta’s annual maximum benefits haven’t changed much in 40 years while other goods and services have inflated some 700-800%. Managed care plans offer the cheapest treatment alternatives by the numbers. Individual plans offer high premiums, co-pays, and limited services.

We all have to stop not thinking together. Whaddya say Mr. Lippman?

The cost of your health is an investment, not an expense. There’s a return: it’s a longer life and a higher quality of life. And staying away from the dentist because you don’t have insurance is like saying no to a daily investment of less than a dollar/day.

Ask your dentist about in-office plans; they really do exist. The plans typically ask for an annual contribution that breaks down to about five bucks per week. All preventive services are provided for the year with other services discounted an average 20%.

Thing is, if you’re looking for excuses you’ll find ‘em. Same can be said for solutions.

And maybe it’s just all the spitting. But for me, baseball flicks like Moneyball can definitely be chicken soup for the dental soul.