Dental Coverage for Families in Teller County
Woodland Park anchors Teller County, a growing exurb west of Colorado Springs where many residents commute to the Springs for work or run small businesses — a community where self-employed residents and remote workers commonly buy dental coverage on their own.
Covering a household means covering two groups the ACA treats differently. Health insurance and dental insurance are separate purchases for most adults, because adult dental isn’t an ACA essential health benefit. In Teller County that means choosing a health plan on Connect for Health Colorado first and treating adult dental as its own purchase.
What Family Dental Plans Cover in Teller County
Family plans put everyone on one policy but keep the benefits per person. On SecureDental PLUS, for example, each person has a $50 deductible, capped at $150 for the family, and cleanings and exams are covered in-network without it.
Braces are the most common surprise. On SecureDental PLUS they’re covered only on the Premium tier, at 70%, with a 12-month waiting period, a $500 yearly limit and a $1,500 lifetime limit, and many other plans don’t cover them at all.
Enrolling Your Family in Dental Coverage in Colorado
Connect for Health Colorado, the state-run exchange in Colorado, sells dental plans alongside its health plans during enrollment periods, and its rules decide whether dental can be added on its own. 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.
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. In Teller County, Medicare’s hospital directory lists one hospital with emergency services: UCHealth Pikes Peak Regional Hospital. One of the county’s hospitals is a critical access hospital, 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 Teller County, with the network checked before you apply.