Getting Dental Coverage Without an Employer in Jackson County
Southern Illinois University Carbondale anchors Jackson County, creating a college-town economy in far southern Illinois where students, faculty, and service workers commonly buy dental coverage on their own.
Without an employer plan, dental coverage is something you arrange yourself. Under the ACA, dental care is an essential health benefit for children but not for adults. Jackson County residents shop for health plans on Get Covered Illinois, and adult dental still has to be bought separately.
What to Look for in a Self-Employed Dental Plan in Jackson 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 Jackson 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 Illinois
For the self-employed, dental premiums usually qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction. It lowers income tax, not self-employment tax, is capped at the business’s net profit, and is lost for any month you could have joined an employer-subsidized plan.
If you own more than 2% of an S corporation, the premiums generally have to be paid or reimbursed by the company and included in your W-2 wages before you can take the deduction. A CPA can set that up.
Marketplace dental in Illinois runs through Get Covered Illinois rather than HealthCare.gov, and it is tied to the exchange’s enrollment periods. Outside the Marketplace there is no enrollment window for stand-alone dental, and coverage usually starts the first of the next month. Use the ZIP code form below and Daniel will send you the dental options for your address.
Stand-alone dental plans are excepted benefits under federal law, so they don’t count as minimum essential coverage and never stand in for a health plan.
Call (713) 575-9904 to compare dental plans for your address in Jackson County, with the network checked before you apply.