Answer posted in Teams: A small business owner looking to add a dependent to their dental plan should consider individual or family dental plans, as they likely won’t qualify for group dental coverage due to being the sole employee.
Eric’s Answer: If a small group has dental coverage, then the dental plan will have a annual open enrollment period just like medical coverage. That’s the time that eligible employees and business owners can add dependents to the plan. Additionally, if a dependent loses group dental coverage during the year (perhaps they were covered under the owner/employee’s spouse and the spouse lost his/her job), the dependent will have a special enrollment right under HIPAA – typically, they have 30 days to join the group plan, though some states have longer special enrollment periods.