Dental Coverage for Montgomery County Families
Montgomery County in central Illinois is a small agricultural and manufacturing community centered on Hillsboro — many residents buy dental coverage on their own.
Families buy dental coverage for two different groups: children and adults. 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 Get Covered Illinois, adult dental coverage is a separate decision in Montgomery County.
Adult Dental vs. Pediatric Dental in Montgomery County
Kids 18 and under have a guarantee parents don’t: with Marketplace coverage, dental must be available for them, built into the health plan or offered as a separate dental plan. Check what your Get Covered Illinois plan already includes for the children before you buy a separate plan for them.
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.
Choosing a Family Dental Plan in Montgomery County
No website can reliably tell you which dentists in Montgomery County take a particular plan. Offices join and leave networks, so search the plan’s provider directory by the family’s dentists’ name and ZIP code, then call the office to confirm.
Orthodontia is where family plans differ most. Many exclude braces or cover them only on higher tiers; SecureDental PLUS covers orthodontia only on its Premium tier, at 70% after a 12-month wait, up to $500 a year and $1,500 lifetime.
If you already need a crown, the waiting period matters more than the premium. HealthCare.gov notes that separate dental plans can have waiting periods for adults, and SecureDental PLUS, for example, waits 12 months for major care and 1 month for basic care.
Serious dental emergencies, such as spreading infection or a broken jaw, are usually treated in a hospital and billed to health insurance rather than the dental plan. Hillsboro Area Hospital is one of the 2 hospitals with emergency services that Medicare lists in Montgomery County; check which of them your health plan includes. Two of the county’s hospitals are critical access hospitals, the small rural facilities Medicare designates to keep emergency care close.
Call (713) 575-9904 to compare family dental plans for your address in Montgomery County, with the network checked before you apply.