Dental Coverage for Families in Cook County
Cook County is the second-most populous county in the nation, anchoring Chicago's massive economy of finance, healthcare, hospitality, and tech — while large employers offer solid dental plans, the county's enormous restaurant, retail, and gig workforce often lacks employer dental benefits.
Families buy dental coverage for two different groups: children and adults. Under the ACA, dental care is an essential health benefit for children but not for adults. Cook County residents shop for health plans on Get Covered Illinois, and adult dental still has to be bought separately.
What Family Dental Plans Cover in Cook County
Under a family dental plan, each person’s claims count against their own deductible until the family cap is reached ($50 per person and $150 per family on SecureDental PLUS), and preventive care generally skips the deductible.
If braces are likely, read the orthodontia terms first: plenty of dental plans leave them out, and SecureDental PLUS limits them to the Premium tier, paying 70% after 12 months up to $500 a year and $1,500 over a lifetime.
Enrolling Your Family in Dental Coverage in Illinois
In Illinois the Marketplace is Get Covered Illinois, which offers dental plans next to its health plans during Open Enrollment and special enrollment periods. Outside the Marketplace there is no enrollment window for stand-alone dental, and coverage usually starts the first of the next month. Enter your ZIP code in the form below and Daniel will send you the dental plans available where you live.
Check waiting periods before you buy. HealthCare.gov notes that separate dental plans can have waiting periods before they cover services for adults; on SecureDental PLUS, basic care waits 1 month and major care and orthodontia 12 months, while cleanings have no wait.
Know where the line sits: a dental plan covers care in a dentist’s chair, while an emergency department visit for a dental abscess or a jaw injury is a health insurance claim. Provident Hospital of Chicago is one of the 42 hospitals with emergency services that Medicare lists in Cook County; check which of them your health plan includes.
A stand-alone dental plan is an excepted benefit: it isn’t minimum essential coverage and doesn’t replace health insurance.
Call (713) 575-9904 and Daniel will price the dental plans available at your Cook County ZIP code and check the network for your family.