The Benefits That Close Offers — Ancillary Benefits Done Right

Dental and vision insurance as well as other ancillary benefits, are consistently ranked among the top three benefits candidates weigh when evaluating a job offer. We help Illinois employers build competitive dental and vision packages that attract talent, keep costs controlled, and run through the same portal your team already uses for health enrollment.

Why Dental and Vision Are No Longer Optional

Candidates at every level — from entry-level hires to senior leaders — expect dental and vision coverage. Employers who skip these benefits aren't saving money; they're losing offers to competitors who included them. Group dental and vision insurance for small business in Illinois doesn't have to be expensive or complicated to administer, and the return on a well-structured plan shows up in your hiring funnel almost immediately.

According to SHRM's employee benefits research, dental coverage ranks among the most valued benefits across all employee demographics — ahead of many perks employers spend far more to offer.

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Contact Us Today

Whether you're building a benefits package for the first time or replacing a plan that no longer fits your team, we'll walk you through carrier options, cost structures, and plan designs that make sense for your company. Most consultations take less than an hour, and we come prepared with options specific to your headcount and location.

How We Structure Dental and Vision Plans for Growing Employers

There's no single right answer to how dental and vision benefits should be structured — it depends on your headcount, budget, and what your competitors are offering. We work through the options with you and build a plan design that fits where your company is today and scales as you grow.

Employer-Paid Base Plans

You cover a defined base level of dental and vision coverage for every eligible employee. This is the cleanest structure for recruiting — candidates see a concrete benefit on the offer letter, and there's no ambiguity about what's included.

Voluntary Buy-Up Options

You fund the base plan, and employees who want richer coverage — orthodontia, higher vision allowances, expanded frame benefits — pay the difference themselves through payroll deduction. This keeps your cost predictable while giving employees a meaningful choice. It's one of the most common structures we set up for small and midsize employers in Illinois, and it works well for teams at every budget level.

Fully Voluntary Plans

In some cases, particularly for smaller teams or employers adding dental and vision mid-year, a fully voluntary structure makes sense. Employees elect and pay for coverage themselves, but they get access to group carrier rates they couldn't access on their own. You offer the benefit without adding to your benefits spend.

Carrier Selection and Plan Design

We work with multiple dental and vision carriers and don't steer clients toward any single provider. We compare options based on your employee demographics, geographic locations, and budget — then present the plans that make sense for your situation. Group dental insurance in Illinois spans a wide range of network sizes, waiting periods, and orthodontia coverage, and those details matter when your employees actually use the benefit.

Enrollment Through Employee Navigator — No Extra Portals

Dental and vision enrollment runs through the same Employee Navigator platform we use for health insurance. Employees log in once, see all their benefit options in one place, and make their elections without switching systems. Your HR team manages everything from a single dashboard. No separate logins, no parallel enrollment windows, no additional administrative overhead.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Group Dental and Vision Insurance

  • Do I have to offer dental and vision insurance to employees in Illinois?

    Illinois law does not require employers to offer dental or vision benefits. However, employers who do offer them gain a significant recruiting and retention advantage — dental and vision coverage consistently rank among the top benefits candidates evaluate before accepting an offer. For most growing employers, the question isn't whether to offer them, but how to structure them affordably.

  • What's the difference between employer-paid and voluntary dental and vision plans?

    With an employer-paid plan, you cover the cost of base coverage for eligible employees. With a voluntary plan, employees elect and pay for coverage themselves through payroll deduction, but they access group carrier rates that aren't available to individuals. Many employers use a hybrid structure — funding a base plan and offering voluntary buy-up tiers for employees who want richer benefits.

  • How many employees do I need to offer group dental and vision insurance?

    Most group dental and vision carriers will work with employers who have as few as two eligible employees. The plan options and carrier availability expand as your headcount grows, but small employers in Illinois have real, competitive options — not stripped-down plans.

  • Will my employees have to enroll in dental and vision separately from health insurance?

    Not with ASI Benefits. Dental and vision enrollment runs through the same Employee Navigator portal as your health plan. Employees complete all their benefit elections in one place during open enrollment, and your HR team manages everything from a single dashboard.

  • Can I offer dental and vision to employees in multiple states?

    Yes. We work with carriers that provide national network access, which is important for employers with employees in Illinois, California, Texas, or other states. We account for your full employee geography when selecting carriers and plan designs.

What a Competitive Dental and Vision Package Includes

A well-designed group dental and vision plan covers more than the basics. Here's what we typically help employers build into their packages:

  • Preventive dental care covered at 100% (cleanings, exams, X-rays) to encourage utilization and reduce claims over time
  • Basic and major restorative coverage (fillings, crowns, root canals) with clearly defined cost-sharing
  • Orthodontia coverage as an optional add-on or buy-up tier for employees with families
  • Vision exams, frames or contacts allowances, and access to major retail optical networks
  • Voluntary buy-up tiers that give employees meaningful choices without increasing your base cost
  • Consistent network access across Illinois and in any secondary markets where your team is located

Why Illinois Employers Work With ASI Benefits on Dental and Vision

We specialize in rapidly growing employers — the companies that are hiring fast, may not have a full HR team in place, and need a brokerage that can move at their pace. When you work with us on dental and vision, you get direct access to the team members managing your account, not a call queue or a rotating service desk.

Our bundled approach means dental and vision aren't bolted on as an afterthought. They're integrated into your broader benefits package from the start, administered on the same platform, and reviewed alongside your health plan at renewal. That's the kind of coordination a benefits broker in Chicago at our size can actually deliver — and what national brokers routinely don't.