Dental Coverage for Families in Randolph County
Randolph County along the Mississippi River is centered on Chester, with a state prison, agriculture, and some manufacturing — many private-sector residents buy dental coverage on their own.
Covering a household means covering two groups the ACA treats differently. Adult dental care isn’t an essential health benefit under the ACA, so a health plan in Illinois doesn’t have to include it. Randolph 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 Randolph County
A family dental plan covers each enrolled person under one policy, with the same preventive, basic and major classes of care as an individual plan. Deductibles usually apply per person with a family cap: $50 a person up to $150 a family on SecureDental PLUS.
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.
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. In Randolph County, Medicare’s hospital directory shows three hospitals with emergency departments, among them Memorial Hospital, Red Bud Regional Hospital and one other. Three of the county’s hospitals are critical access hospitals, the small rural facilities Medicare designates to keep emergency care close.
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 family dental plans for your address in Randolph County, with the network checked before you apply.