Getting Dental Coverage Without an Employer in Weld County
Weld County produces more oil than any other county in Colorado and is a major agricultural powerhouse — oilfield workers, feedlot employees, and large agricultural workers have mixed dental benefit access, with many in the energy sector working as independent contractors who purchase coverage themselves.
Working for yourself means no group dental plan to join. Adult dental care isn’t an essential health benefit under the ACA, so a health plan in Colorado doesn’t have to include it. Weld County residents shop for health plans on Connect for Health Colorado, and adult dental still has to be bought separately.
What to Look for in a Self-Employed Dental Plan in Weld County
When you compare stand-alone dental plans on your own, look at five things: the premium, whether your dentist is in the network, the deductible, the annual maximum and the waiting periods for basic and major care.
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.
No website can reliably tell you which dentists in Weld 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 Colorado
Self-employed? Dental premiums generally go into the self-employed health insurance deduction on Schedule 1, with the same limits as health premiums: no more than the business’s net profit, no months you were eligible for an employer-subsidized plan, and no reduction in 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.
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. Outside the Marketplace there is no enrollment window for stand-alone dental, and coverage usually starts the first of the next month. Put your ZIP code in the form below and Daniel will pull the dental plans sold at that address.
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 and Daniel will price the dental plans available at your Weld County ZIP code and check the network for you.