It is definitely by state. In Colorado, it is up to 21 I think. One eye exam, some discount on glasses, Dental cleanings and some other coverage.
You can call the state insurance commissioner of the state where the U is located and double-check with them as to whether or not this specific plan is or is not regulated.
we have similar situation for both DDs, I checked with both colleges and the answers were yes. I could download the ID from the college website for one daughter and the other gave me the policy/ID numbers and I gave it to the doctor. For my younger who will be a freshman in Fall, I still keep her plan with me for August.
One of my concerns and I have raised with the colleges was what would happen to their coverage if, God forbid, something happens that prevent them to continue school. One gave me a definite answer that it would not be a problem to continue to coverage for the school year, the other did not say no, but not giving me a definite answer. My concern was not only for the coverage going forward, but what about the coverage for Aug.? with the insurance company retrospectively roll back her coverage? Again, I have a definite no from one of the colleges.
If you can and if you know there are specific procedures your DD needs, you may want to make sure United Health cover as well.
It’s this…through United Health Care.
I think it’s fine.
How could a plan not be regulated? I’ve never heard of such a thing. To sell any kind of insurance in a state, the policy has to be approved by the department of insurance, and those offering the policy have to be licensed.
Yes, I have never heard of unregulated insurance either, but that was the question in post #17.
You were the one who mentioned “unregulated plans”. What do you mean?
Are these the non-ACA compliant plans? Or what.
I’m guessing @LasMa doesn’t mean the plans are not regulated by the state…but rather are not ACA compliant.
But I’m guessing.
@annamom - if your kid should lose insurance from school, for whatever reason, it is a life event and you would be able to put your kid back on your insurance or get an individual insurance. Almost every school insurance I am aware of is annual, not just for the school year (Aug to May).
^^yes, the plan would be Aug to July.
Here is a hypothetical situation. A kid is removed from the parent’s plan in Aug, the kid will have the school plan beginning in Aug. Something happens to the kid in Aug, the kid cannot go to school in September, will the kid get coverage for Aug? What happens to the medical bills for Aug? One college told me yes if it were due to medical reason and could continue for the school year, the other did not say no, but said the kid would get coverage only after the school begins as they did not want people to cheat to get into their health care coverage. I thought it was an absurd reasoning, even I did not tell them it was absurd.
Obviously this kind of situation is unlikely to happen, but insurance is to cover the unexpected.
In my case, the kid cannot be added back to my plan as I will be getting medicare. In a separate thread, someone mentioned the kid can purchase through ACA, but what if ACA goes away?
@thumper Just last week it was announced that consumers will be able to buy what used to be called “junk” insurance plans. These are ostensibly short-term plans to cover you, say, between jobs but under the new rules can be renewed for up to 3 years.
These plans are exempt from all of the consumer protections of ACA. There are no Essential Health Benefits, so they can cover whatever they want to – or omit whatever they want to. Virtually none cover birth control, most don’t cover prescriptions or maternity, many don’t cover cancer care. They can cap hospitalization coverage at $2500 or whatever they want to, or delay the start of hospitalization coverage (no coverage until Day 3, for example). They don’t have to cover routine exams and tests. They are allowed to impose annual or lifetime caps. And, importantly, they can deny you for preexisting conditions, and drop you if you get sick. They can do whatever they want, which is what I meant by “unregulated”.
Naturally, they will be very cheap compared to ACA plans. People who don’t get sick will think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But those who do get sick will be in for a nasty surprise.
Thanks @LasMa
The plans DD is being offered offers all the routine things. It doesn’t, however, have coverage for out of network doctor visits…which is a little odd, I think for a PPO. But I think the UNC network is a lot deeper than Ambetter, which is what the kid has now. There was only one PCP in her are who took Ambetter…luckily she liked this doc. Hoping she takes UHC!
Read your kid’s college plan carefully. Our kid’s plan defines the number of days she MUST attend college for,this plan to be! In her case, it’s she must attend classes for 31 school days. Otherwise, she is no longer eligible.
So for our kid…if she signed up,many had to drop out in September, she would not be able to continue on the school plan. BUT because this is an insurance event…you would be able to get her an individual plan or add her back on your plan (if your plan allows this).
The college plan we have (from UnitedHealthcare) states that the student must actively attend classes for at least the first 31 days after the date for which coverage is purchased. If that condition is met then the policy is valid for the entire 12 months. I guess there could be situations where a student is injured in the first week on campus and can’t fulfill this condition, but I presume the intent is to prevent people from enrolling in the plan and then never showing up to school and using the coverage while they do something else.
@thumper1 Thank you for the tip. Yikes! Even though leaving before the full 31 days would count as an insurance event, you still need to know that the clause is there in the first place. Otherwise you wouldn’t know to add kiddo to your work insurance or sign him/her up for an individual plan.
DS’s plan is United Healthcare too. My work insurance doesn’t have any providers in his campus town. Premium cost is about the same as my work plan but deductible and co-pay are lower. So yay. Another benefit is that the school plan covers him while he’s studying abroad next spring. I could not get a straight answer from the insurance administrator for my work coverage about whether our plan qualified.
@thumper1 reg post #31 and @Twoin18 , one of my DDs also has the UH plan and I knew about the 31 days, and technically if the kid were to withdraw within the 31 days, they can “refund” the medical plan. Hence it was my discussion with the rep on what if, God forbid, something happens before she is fully eligible, my concern, as I wrote, not only the coverage moving forward, but stuck with the medical bill if they “refund” the insurance.
For my other DD, it is not United Health, the school only told me she would get coverage after she enrolls. I have not been able to get the written plan policy, only the summary of benefits.
Some state had very few insurers left after the ACA took over. Now that the requirements aren’t so strict, more companies are rejoining the markets.
@Thumper, the school should be able to tell you if the plan is ACA-compliant. It very likely is.
I wrote all of that mostly just to warn anyone reading that consumers can no longer assume that the govt will protect us against insurance companies. Also, these plans are going to be marketed to college-age and other young people, who are not only heathier as a group, but don’t remember the predations of Big Insurance before ACA.
About 12 years ago, pre-ACA, my kids had individual policies through Blue Cross. They were great for their needs. They covered 4 doctor visits a year for co=pay only, a little bit of dental (cleaning, fillings),eye exams, no transplants, no maternity, no amputations. I was willing to take the risk for two 10 year olds. If anything more major had happened, they could have gone on medicaid.
Those policies weren’t all junk. It was really perfect for our needs at about $75/mo.
True, basic kids policies back then were cheap. Once we looked into getting one for D because it would have been cheaper than keeping her on DH’s, but she had a preexisting condition which made her uninsurable on her own.
Yes, our kids had pre-existing asthma from toddlerhood or before, so probably wouldn’t have qualified for most policies. Happily H’s job had family coverage that covered us all till kids aged out. Phew!