A. Under the health care law, starting in January new individual and small-group health plans must cover 10 .聽The list of required benefits was developed following a process that solicited input from consumer groups and members of the public, employers, states, insurers, and medical and policy experts. The final list reflects a core package of benefits that it was determined everyone should have access to, even though most people may not use every single benefit. It includes hospitalization and prescription drugs, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse services, emergency care and doctor visits, as well as pediatric services, including vision and dental services for children.听听听

More From This Series Insuring Your Health

Pediatric dental coverage聽is sometimes offered as part of a regular health plan, but it’s also often sold on a standalone basis. So even though the health law requires that children in聽individual and small group plans have access to dental coverage,聽people are not required聽to buy聽 if they buy a plan on the state health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, unless their state specifically requires it.

But people who buy plans outside the state marketplace may not have the same flexibility, says Colin Reusch, a senior policy analyst at the Children’s Dental Health Project. 聽聽

Outside the exchange, “There’s no exemption for that requirement to have pediatric dental coverage,” he says. “So if you’re buying insurance outside the exchange you may have to meet it.”聽

It sounds as if your husband’s plan is a non-exchange plan. If that’s the case, he could shop for a plan on the exchange if he wants to avoid buying pediatric dental coverage.

Please send comments or ideas for future topics for the Insuring Your Health column to questions@kffhealthnews.org. We regret that we can’t respond to individual requests for health insurance advice or information. Please visit to locate a .

This <a target="_blank" href="/insurance/102513-michelle-andrews-essential-health-benefits/">article</a&gt; first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="">麻豆女优 Health News</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href=" Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src="/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150&quot; style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">