Dental Coverage for Families in San Miguel County
Telluride makes San Miguel County one of Colorado's most expensive resort destinations — mountain resort workers and service employees here often lack employer dental benefits despite living in an extremely high-cost community.
Covering a household means covering two groups the ACA treats differently. Under the ACA, dental care is an essential health benefit for children but not for adults. San Miguel County residents shop for health plans on Connect for Health Colorado, and adult dental still has to be bought separately.
What Family Dental Plans Cover in San Miguel 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 Colorado
In Colorado the Marketplace is Connect for Health Colorado, which offers dental plans next to its health plans during Open Enrollment and special enrollment periods. Off the Marketplace, a stand-alone dental plan isn’t tied to Open Enrollment at all. Put your ZIP code in the form below and Daniel will pull the dental plans sold at that address.
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.
A dental plan pays dentists, not emergency rooms. If a tooth infection or a facial injury takes you to an emergency department, that bill goes to your health insurance. Medicare’s directory shows no emergency department inside San Miguel County, so check which nearby hospitals are in your health plan before you need one.
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 to compare family dental plans for your address in San Miguel County, with the network checked before you apply.