Last year, dental insurance paid $11 billion of the $16 billion spent

Question

Last year, dental insurance paid $11 billion of the $16 billion spent on dental care. It is thus indispensable for a dental care provider to be eligible for reimbursement by a patient insurer. As a result, it is the insurers who decide who is a dental healer in modern society.

Which of the following, if true, weakens the argument above?

(A) The kinds of dental services not covered by dental insurance are relatively inexpensive

(B) Dental insurance companies must reimburse any provider licensed by state agencies that regulate dental care

(C) Patients sometimes choose to receive a particular treatment from a familiar dentist even if that treatment is not eligible for reimbursement

(D) Many of the dental-care services demanded by insured patients are unnecessary

(E) A significant portion of uninsured patients forgo needed treatment because they are unable to afford the high cost

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Shwarma · Answer

Option B

Conclusion: it is the insurers who decide who is a dental healer in modern society.

weakens the argument

(A) The kinds of dental services not covered by dental insurance are relatively inexpensive -- so the once covered are still at the mercy of insurers, eliminate 
 
(B) Dental insurance companies must reimburse any provider licensed by state agencies that regulate dental care -  Yes, premise is you need to be eligible to be reimbursed, this debunks that, thus is the answer
 
(C) Patients sometimes choose to receive a particular treatment from a familiar dentist even if that treatment is not eligible for reimbursement -  some.. so not all ..so, eliminate

(D) Many of the dental-care services demanded by insured patients are unnecessary --  not relevant

(E) A significant portion of uninsured patients forgo needed treatment because they are unable to afford the high cost -  the conclusion deals with who are healers aka how gets the most patients this is out of scope

A_Nishith · Answer

To weaken the argument, we need to find an option that challenges the claim that insurers decide who is a dental healer in modern society because they pay for the majority of dental care expenses.

The argument hinges on the idea that because insurance companies cover a significant portion of dental care costs, they have control over which providers can be reimbursed and thus influence who is considered a legitimate dental healer.

Let's analyze each option to determine which one undermines this reasoning:

(A) The kinds of dental services not covered by dental insurance are relatively inexpensive.

This option does not weaken the argument significantly because it does not address the influence insurers have over the approval of dental healers. Even if some services are inexpensive, insurers still control the majority of the dental care spending.

(B) Dental insurance companies must reimburse any provider licensed by state agencies that regulate dental care.

This option weakens the argument because it implies that insurers do not have the ultimate power to decide who is a dental healer. Instead, state licensing agencies regulate who can provide dental care, and insurers must comply with these regulations.

(C) Patients sometimes choose to receive a particular treatment from a familiar dentist even if that treatment is not eligible for reimbursement.

This option weakens the argument somewhat because it shows that patients' choices are not solely driven by insurance reimbursement. However, it does not directly challenge the overall influence of insurers on the dental profession.

(D) Many of the dental-care services demanded by insured patients are unnecessary.

This option does not weaken the argument about insurers deciding who is a dental healer. It addresses the demand for services but not the control over who provides those services.

(E) A significant portion of uninsured patients forgo needed treatment because they are unable to afford the high cost.

This option highlights the issues faced by uninsured patients but does not address the argument about the control insurers have over dental healers.

The option that most directly weakens the argument is:

(B)  Dental insurance companies must reimburse any provider licensed by state agencies that regulate dental care.

This option implies that the decision of who is a dental healer is ultimately made by state agencies through licensing, not by the insurers.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The conclusion drawn by the author is that, since it is the insurance companies which reimburse the expenditure incurred by dental-care providers, such providers are under the control of the insurance companies, and insurance companies can therefore decide who shall take to the profession of providing dental-care. This is the meaning of the last sentence which says, “it is the insurers who decide who is a dental healer in modern society’.

(A) implies that all expensive dental services are covered by dental insurance. This will strengthen and not weaken the argument of the author that it is the insurance companies which decide who is the healer in modern society. So, (A) is not the answer.

(B) points out that it is the state agencies in charge of regulation of dental-care who license dental providers, and dental insurance companies are bound to reimburse such providers for the services rendered by them to the insured persons. This means that it is the state agencies, and not the insurance companies, who decide who are the dental healers in modern society. So, it is (B) which weakens the argument of the author, and is the answer.

(C) talks of a situation in which the insurance companies are not bound to reimburse a dental-care expenditure, and is therefore not relevant to the author’s argument. So, (C) is not the answer.

(D) and (E) are also not relevant to the author’s argument, and can be discarded.

Last year, dental insurance paid $11 billion of the $16 billion spent

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Last year, dental insurance paid $11 billion of the $16 billion spent

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