Getting Dental Coverage Without an Employer in Gwinnett County
Gwinnett County is one of the most diverse suburban counties in the South, with large Korean, Latino, and South Asian communities alongside a major commercial and light manufacturing base — many small-business owners and immigrant entrepreneurs buy dental coverage on their own.
Without an employer plan, dental coverage is something you arrange yourself. Health insurance and dental insurance are separate purchases for most adults, because adult dental isn’t an ACA essential health benefit. Whatever health plan you pick through Georgia Access, adult dental coverage is a separate decision in Gwinnett County.
What to Look for in a Self-Employed Dental Plan in Gwinnett County
When you compare stand-alone dental plans on your own, look at five things: the premium, whether your dentist is in the network, the deductible, the annual maximum and the waiting periods for basic and major care.
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.
No website can reliably tell you which dentists in Gwinnett County take a particular plan. Offices join and leave networks, so search the plan’s provider directory by the dentist’s name and ZIP code, then call the office to confirm.
Dental Insurance as a Business Expense in Georgia
Self-employed? Dental premiums generally go into the self-employed health insurance deduction on Schedule 1, with the same limits as health premiums: no more than the business’s net profit, no months you were eligible for an employer-subsidized plan, and no reduction in self-employment tax.
More-than-2% S corporation shareholders follow a different route: the company pays or reimburses the premiums and reports them in W-2 wages, and the deduction is then taken personally. Ask your CPA to set it up.
Marketplace dental in Georgia runs through Georgia Access rather than HealthCare.gov, and it is tied to the exchange’s enrollment periods. Off the Marketplace, a stand-alone dental plan isn’t tied to Open Enrollment at all. Use the ZIP code form below and Daniel will send you the dental options for your address.
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 send the dental plans sold in Gwinnett County and check your provider against each network.