Dental Plan

Delta Dental of California

All retirees are eligible to enroll in a dental plan.  Retiree may elect to enroll their spouse, registered domestic partner, and/or dependent children at the time of retirement or during Open Enrollment.  Spouses, domestic partners, and/or dependent children may also be added within 30 days of a “Qualified Status change Event.”  Once you have enrolled in a dental plan, that coverage will continue year to year until you make a change. 

 For the calendar year, the County contributes $25.00 towards the premium cost of the Basic Dental Plan for retirees that retired on or before May 31, 2007.  Each Special District determines if a premium offset is provided for their retirees for this benefit.  Retirees pay 100% of the cost for spouse/domestic partner and/or dependent children coverage.  

"REMEMBER 30 DAYS"

You must contact the Employee Benefits Office within 30 days of the date of a qualifying status change event to make a change to your medical, dental and life insurance.  Failure to do so within the 30-day time frame will result in your inability to make the change until the next Open Enrollment period.

Basic Dental Plan

The Basic Dental plan pays benefits based upon a fee schedule.  For specific coverage information for the Basic Dental plan, click here. 

Premium Dental Plan

(The premium dental plan will no longer be available 1/1/2010, please refer to the 2010 Summary of Benefits for more information.)

This plan provides three levels of benefits:  

• If you receive services from a Delta PPO (formerly called DeltaPreferred Option) in-network dentist, the plan will pay 60% of the basic, preventative and diagnostic services;
• If you receive services from a non-PPO Delta dentist, the plan will pay 55% of the basic, preventative and diagnostic services based upon the Delta Dental Premier dentists’ allowed fees.
• If you receive services from a non-Delta dentist, the plan will pay 50% of the basic, preventative and diagnostic services based upon the Usual, Customary and Reasonable (UCR) fees for the service, and you may be liable for the dental charges over the UCR fee.

  Important (eff 1/1/09): 2 year lock – If you select the Premium Dental Plan, you must remain in the plan for a minimum of 2 calendar years before you can change plans, waive coverage, or drop dependents.  If you add a dependent mid year, both you and the dependent must remain in the Premium Plan for a minimum of 2 calendar years before you can change plans, waive coverage, or drop dependents.  Only a “Qualified Status Change Event” causing a loss of dependent status will allow for a reduction in dependent coverage without fulfilling the 2 year requirement.  If you are currently in the Premium plan your prior coverage is credited towards the 2 year lock.

   

For specific coverage information for the Premium Dental plan, click here. 

Hardcopies of the Evidence of Coverage booklet that contains details about the plan is also available from the Employee Benefits Office.

Both the Basic and Premium Dental Plan do not coordinate with itself or each other.  Therefore you may only be enrolled in one County-sponsored retiree dental plan.  You may not be enrolled in the Dental plan as a retiree and as a beneficiary or as a spouse of another retiree.  Children may only be enrolled as dependents of one retiree. 

A list of DeltaPreferred Option Dentists and Delta Dentists can be obtained by calling 1-800-765-6003 or logging onto to Delta Dental’s website at www.deltadentalca.org.  This list will identify those dentists who can provide care for individuals who have mobility impairments or have special health care needs. 

Inquire about the availability of documents in alternate formats.