Best health insurance for out of town college student?

amother · 12-08-2008, 06:03 PM

Hi, I am in the process of picking an health insurance plan for my family. Since S is going to college next year, and possibly to a out-of-town college, so I want to make sure that the insurance that I eventually pick will be convenient for S late.

Does any of you have any positive or negative experiences with different insurance company that you like to share? what are the main issues that I should be looking for when choosing one that is good for out-of-town student?

Thanks a lot in advance.

crazed · 12-08-2008, 06:32 PM

AETNA US HEALTHCARE

Never had a problem. Referrals are annoying, but we've never been denied coverage. Needed to purchase a nebulizer when out of state (and we didn't bring ours for hte first time ever) and they reimbursed us. Also, went to a walk-in center (on a Sunday) as it was closer than the ER. They prefer the ER (at likely much higher cost and longer visit than we'd ever need). We called, they paid.

As far as college, the insurer told me our son would be covered at a walk-in-center or ER. He has been to the health center on campus. Seems like they took our insurance.

One thing I'd check is the coverage date. I don't know if they are all the same- We have coverage until age 23, even if not a full time student. (I think that is our coverage.) This will come in handy if they graduate early and you need insurance before the child gets a job and is covered.

I hope this helps.

thumper1 · 12-08-2008, 08:41 PM

We have Anthem BC/BS PPO plan. Our kids are covered wherever they go to college via Blue Care (covers the kids OOS while they are students in another state). Both kids have seen doctors and had prescriptions filled in their college states with no difficulty at all. We have this coverage with my work.

Check with the providers. Most health insurance plans will cover an OOS college student. Plus, where my kids go (went) to college, the university health center was also available to them even though we did not pay for the school sponsored health insurance. DS (for example) had strep and went to the health center where they did a strep test. No charge.

LongPrime · 12-09-2008, 12:03 AM

Regence BC/BS no issues. He's on his own. High deductible, HSA. OK to use in Germany (temp/intern/student position at a university) OK to use in Canada as grad student where he also had to pay for Canadian insurance, which paid for malaria pills. OK to use in India, intern.

He's had no issues other than rising insurance costs of 20% without changing anything.

Zetesis · 12-09-2008, 12:03 AM

We too have Aetna at present, and they have been very helpful. Although we have an HMO in our home state, our daughter's state doesn't, and she is covered by a PPO. So there's more up-front out of pocket expenses if she needs to use it (I think it's $300/year?), but it's been easy to use, and prescriptions (she needs inhalers) have been covered.

For a number of things, though, she's just gone to student health at her college. Our insurance doesn't cover this (or I don't think they do). But student health has written prescriptions, and ordered xrays and other tests, and Aetna has covered these now that D is beyond the annual limit. Student health also did strep cultures, etc., but I think there's a minimal charge at the school for lab work, blood tests, and the like. If we had bought the student insurance plan at the school, all this would have been covered. But that plan would have been more expensive.

HImom · 12-09-2008, 02:56 AM

I have our local BC/BS plan that allows PPO (participating & preferred) docs all over the country to provide care for any of us, including when we are far from our home state. A friend's kids have Kaiser & it has been tougher for them to get urgent/emergency care when needed as the Kaiser isn't that close to the U campuses their kids' attend. If you do get a plan that has PPO with out-of-state coverage that's pretty comprehensive & flexible, that's about the best you can do. Also, some insurers cover until the "child" reaches 25 while others cut off when the student reaches 22 (if that matters to you). My S will turn 22 in his senior year, so we'll have to buy the university's health insurance that year to be sure he gets coverage.

amother · 12-10-2008, 09:03 AM

Hi, Thanks to you all for all of your responses. I appreciate it.

I was debating between Aetna(HMO) and BC/BS....after called both insurances, I decided to go with Aetna. They both charge about same monthly payment, and both have nationwide coverage ( based on what they promised over the phone)...only difference is Aetna has coverage for regular vision care and Bc/BS doesn't seem do....so I picked Aetna.

Thanks again for sharing.

nngmm · 12-10-2008, 10:40 AM

We used to have Healthnet insurance (through employer) - it worked great (they had doctors and offices everywhere it seemed...)

kayf · 03-15-2009, 09:28 AM

CIGNA -- very happy with, and has even paperless for out of network docs

tinkroper · 08-31-2010, 05:26 AM

Of course, there are more benefits to having health insurance than simply being prepared for the unexpected. With most family health plans, it's much easier to get every family member regular check-ups and preventative care that can help to catch potential health complications before they become something more serious. It's still just as true as when it was first written: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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