Getting Dental Coverage Without an Employer in Washoe County
Reno anchors Washoe County's economy, which has diversified from gaming into tech and manufacturing with Tesla's Gigafactory and other Nevada-lured companies — a rapidly changing economy where many new arrivals are tech workers and entrepreneurs who buy dental and vision coverage on their own.
Working for yourself means no group dental plan to join. Under the ACA, dental care is an essential health benefit for children but not for adults. Whatever health plan you pick through Nevada Health Link, adult dental coverage is a separate decision in Washoe County.
What to Look for in a Self-Employed Dental Plan in Washoe County
Five numbers decide a self-employed dental plan: premium, deductible, annual maximum, waiting periods, and whether your dentist is in the network. The annual maximum, commonly $1,000 to $2,000, is the one people overlook.
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.
No website can reliably tell you which dentists in Washoe 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 Nevada
If you’re self-employed, dental premiums for yourself, a spouse and dependents generally count toward the self-employed health insurance deduction, which can’t exceed your business’s net profit, isn’t available for months you could join an employer-subsidized plan, and cuts income tax but not self-employment tax.
More-than-2% S corporation shareholders follow a different route: the company pays or reimburses the premiums and reports them in W-2 wages, and the deduction is then taken personally. Ask your CPA to set it up.
Marketplace dental in Nevada runs through Nevada Health Link 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 and Daniel will send the dental plans sold in Washoe County and check your provider against each network.